Air Force security forces from the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing listen to instruction during guard mount at an Operation Enduring Freedom location. A guard mount is conducted to brief security forces troops before a shift change.

Established on 1 December 1952 at Godman AFB, Kentucky. The 405th Fighter-Bomber Wing was an active-duty replacement for the Federalized New Jersey Air National Guard108th Fighter-Bomber Wing which returned to state control after its activation during the Korean War. The wing's 405th Fighter-Bomber Group was a reactivation of the IX Fighter Command 405th Fighter Group, which had fought in the ETO during World War II.

When activated the group redesignated the NJ ANG 141st, 149th and 153d Strategic Fighter Squadrons as the 509th, 510th, and 511th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons in numerical order. Initially equipped with F-47Ds and F-47N Thunderbolts inherited from the Air National Guard, the 405th being the last active duty USAF Thunderbolt fighter Wing.

On 1 May 1953, the F-47s were withdrawn and sent to AMARC, and the 405th was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia due to the programmed closing of Godman AFB on 1 September. At Langley, the 405th replaced the provisional 4430th Air Base Wing and was re-equipped with Republic F-84F Thunderstreak jet aircraft. Also attached to the group was the 422d Bombardment Squadron with B-26 Invader light bombers (1 May – 20 December 1953) and the 429th Air Refueling Squadron (19 July 1954 – 8 October 1957) with KB-29 Superfortress tankers. Operations included gunnery and bombardment training, firepower demonstrations, weapons delivery training, and numerous tactical exercises, 1952–1958, plus air refueling, 1954–1958.

The wing was reassigned to Pacific Air Forces in April 1959, replacing the PACAF 6200th Air Base Wing at Clark AB, Philippines. This was part of a general buildup of USAF tactical forces in the Southwest Pacific, as Clark in the postwar era was largely a maintenance and supply depot, and the signing of a new Status of Forces agreement with the Philippine Government with regards to Clark AB.

Re-designated as the 405th Fighter Wing, the wing provided host mission duties at Clark as well as air defense and offensive fighter operations in the Philippines, Taiwan, and other Far Eastern points, April 1959 – June 1962. Initially the transferred 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron operated F-86D Sabre interceptors in an air defense mission, being replaced by F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors in 1960.

From mid-1962 until the end of the conflict in Southeast Asia, the wing frequently deployed assigned and attached components to bases in Southeast Asia for air defense and combat operations under operational control of other organizations. When not so involved, components trained in air defense and other tactical exercises in Taiwan and the Philippines.

8th Bombardment Squadron Martin B-57B-MA 53-928, 1974 after its return to the United States

13th Bombardment Squadron Martin B-57B-MA 53-865 1974. Photo taken at Forbes AFB, Kansas shortly after aircraft was returned to the United States. Photo (and the one above) show aircraft after being assigned to the 190th Bombardment Group, Kansas Air National Guard. Both had been converted to the B-57G night intruder version where they served until 1974, when they were consigned to storage at Davis Monthan AFB.

In April 1964, the situation in Indochina led to orders for the PACAF 41st Air DivisionB-57B Canberra 8th and 13th Bombardment Squadrons to be reassigned from rotational nuclear "quick strike" alert in South Korea to Thirteenth Air Force at Clark AB for possible tactical bombardment missions against communist aggressor forces in South Vietnam. On 9 April 1965, the first Canberras of the 13th Bomb Squadron began arriving at Clark; the 8th began arriving on 17 April. By the end of the month all 47 of the former 3d Bomb Wing's aircraft arrived in the Philippines. The squadrons were formally assigned to Headquarters 13th Air Force, however they were attached to the 405th Wing for administrative and logistical support.[1]

During the summer of 1964, a war of nerves was taking place between the United States, North and South Vietnam. United States ground forces were present in South Vietnam, officially in an advisory role to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) at the invitation of the South Vietnamese government. United States forces could not attack communist forces unless provoked by aggressive action of the communist Viet Cong, or in some cases, by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) ground units in the South.[1]

On the night of 2 August 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred in which North Vietnamese gunboats directly clashed with United States Navy destroyers. At Clark, the base went on alert and the atmosphere was that of a wartime appearance. Fighter Squadrons were deploying to USAF bases in Thailand, and transports began shipping supplies and equipment to South Vietnamese bases used by the United States. The two B-57 squadrons went on alert and on 5 August the squadrons were notified to deploy 20 B-57Bs of the 8th and 13th BS to Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon. This would mark the first deployment of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam.[1]

However, this was technically a violation of the Geneva Protocols which forbade the introduction of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam.[2] To abide by the Geneva protocols, both squadrons rotated frequently over the next four years first to Bien Hoa AB, then to later Tan Son Nhut AB. In November 1964, both squadrons were transferred from 13th AF control to the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark.[3]

In late December 1972, the 13th Bombardment Squadron returned to the 405th from the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon RTAFB, Thailand with B-57G Canberras, which were B-57B that had been returned to Martin in 1969 and modified as night intruders for use in Vietnam in September 1970 under a project known as Tropic Moon. The B-57s, however were transferred almost immediately back to the United States and assigned to the 190th Bombardment Group (Tactical) of the Kansas Air National Guard at Forbes AFB. The 13th Bomb Squadron remained assigned to the wing as an administrative unit until it was inactivated on 30 September 1973.

In 1964, the United States secretly agreed to supply a few B-57Bs to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force. The United States had initially been reluctant to equip the Vietnamese Air Force with jet aircraft, since this would be a technical violation of the Geneva Accords and might further escalate the war. However, the US had already equipped other friendly nations in the region with jet aircraft, and pressure from the government leadership in Saigon coupled with a need to boost the sagging morale of the South Vietnamese people, led to a change of heart.

The first VNAF B-57 crews began training in secret with 405th aircraft at Clark AB later in 1964. One of the students was none other than Nguyen Cao Ky, the commander of the VNAF and later president of the Republic of Vietnam. As the crews completed their training at Clark, they went to Da Nang Air Base and flew combat missions with the 405th's 8th or 13th Bombardment Squadrons, whichever happened to be on station at the time. To gain combat experience, each new crewmember flew with an American pilot or navigator, whichever the case may be. Eventually, the VNAF crew members flew in VNAF-marked B-57s, but their combat missions always remained strictly under USAF operational control.

The South Vietnamese government felt at this stage that the VNAF B-57 program should be given some more visibility, and to celebrate Vietnamese Armed Forces Day, on 29 October 1965, five B-57s from the 8th Bombardment Squadron, then based at Da Nang AB, were repainted with VNAF insignia and carried out an air strike against a suspected Viet Cong stronghold and landed Tan Son Nhut Air Base. After landing, the planes took off again and joined other VNAF aircraft in a formation flyover of Saigon. Although manned solely by American crews, this attack was heralded as the introduction of VNAF B-57s into combat.

However, Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots had severe difficulties operating the B-57. Vietnamese crews suddenly began to complain of various illnesses, which grounded many trainees and brought their training to a standstill. In addition, on 8 January 1966 a B-57 was destroyed in a training accident, further lowering morale. Some Vietnamese crews flatly stated that they could not physically perform the maneuvers required in the B-57. To make matters even worse, Major Nguyen Ngoc Bien, the leader of the VNAF B-57 program, was killed in a freak ground accident on 23 February 1966 at Da Nang. The death of Major Bien, who was well-liked and well-respected by both Vietnamese and Americans, resulted in a complete loss of any incentive for the Vietnamese crewmen to stay with the B-57, and from this point on there was very little Vietnamese activity in the B-57 program. On 20 April 1967, the VNAF B-57 operation was formally terminated.

Flights of F-102 interceptors from the 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron began to deploy to Tan Son Nhut AB in March 1962 to provide air defense against the unlikely event that North Vietnamese aircraft would attack the South. They also deployed to Don Muang RTAFB near Bangkok, Thailand and began exchanging rotational duty with the 16th FIS based at Naha AB on Okinawa. In 1965, operating under the code-name "Project Stovepipe", 509th FIS F-102s used their heat sinking Falcon missiles to lock onto heat sources over the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night, often Viet Cong campfires. The F-102s soon switched to a day role, firing the 12 unguided FFAR rockets from the missile bays, using the optical sight. 618-day sorties were flown, the last one being flown at the end of 1965.

The Air Defense Command64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was deployed from the 25th Air Division at Paine Field, Washington to Clark AB and assigned to the 405th on 10 June 1966 to supplement the F-102 mission in Southeast Asia as well as provide air defense for the Philippines. F-102s stood rotational alert at TDYs Bien Hoa and Da Nang Air Bases in South Vietnam and at Udorn and Don Muang Air Bases in Thailand. The F-102A was finally withdrawn from Southeast Asia in December 1969 with the phaseout of the aircraft from the USAF inventory, also the clear lack of need for a dedicated air defense interceptor over South Vietnam. The F-102A established an excellent safety record during its duty in Vietnam. In almost seven years of flying air defense and a few combat air patrols for SAC B-52s, only 15 F-102As were lost.

In July 1968, the 315th Air Division reassigned the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing from Mactan Isle Airfield to Clark AB, and it became a tenant unit under the 405th. The 463d was responsible for operating a C-130 Hercules combat airlift support unit at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, and also flew combat support missions within South Vietnam landing and dropping off supplies, equipment and personnel at forward locations throughout the country. It operated three squadrons of C-130s performing rotational deployments to and from Clark, bringing back wounded personnel with aeromedical airlifts, the aircraft returning to South Vietnam filled with combat supplies and equipment. This mission continued until 31 December 1971 when the wing was inactivated as part of the Vietnam drawdown. The 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron remained assigned to the 405th, providing tactical airlift within the Southwest Pacific until 15 September 1972.

McDonnell Douglas F-4E-49-MC Phantom 71-1073. Originally assigned to the 90th TFS at Clark

The 1st Test Squadron conducted weapons system evaluation (COMBAT SAGE) of repaired battle-damaged F-4 Phantom IIs from 30 April 1970 until the end of the Vietnam War. It remained assigned to the 405th until the wing's re-designation in September 1974.

During July–August 1972, provided extensive flood relief to Philippine areas inundated by monsoon rains. During February–March 1973, provided medical, logistical, and administrative support for former prisoners of war, on their way to the United States from North Vietnam. With the end of the USAF presence in South Vietnam, the wing was re-designated as the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing in September 1974[5] to retain the history of the senior unit after its standown as part of the closure of Bien Hoa AB.

With the upgrading to the F-15C, the lowest-hour F-15As were transferred to the 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron which converted from F-4 Phantom II. The 426th provided F-15A interceptor training specifically to support the TAC Air Defense Command (ADTAC) training mission inherited from the inactivated Aerospace Defense Command which was merged into TAC. The F-15As in front-line units were being reassigned to Air Defense duty with ADTAC.

On 19 November 1990, the 555th TFTS changed its course from air superiority combat training with the Eagle to air defense interceptor training with the F-15C when TAC began assigning F-15Cs to Air National Guard interceptor duty and phasing out the F-15A all together, the 426th being inactivated.

The 461st TFTS received first F-15E Strike Eagle, July 1988, and the 550th TFTS became the second F-15E Strike Eagle training squadron in March 1989.

On 1 October 1991, due to the implementation of the Objective Wing at Luke and the "One base, one wing" policy, the 405th TTW was shut down and the F-15s were reassigned back to the 58th TTW.

Reactivated as an Air Expeditionary Wing after the 9/11/2001 attacks as part of USCENTAF. Supporting operations on three fronts of Global War on Terrorism—the Horn of Africa, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. B-1, KC-135, RC-135 Aircraft, possibly others.

1.
United States Air Force
–
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source

2.
James Ferguson (general)
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General James Ferguson was a U. S. Air Force general and was commander of the Air Force Systems Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Ferguson was born in Izmir, Turkey, of British parents in 1913 and he attended elementary school in Scotland and later settled with his family in Whittier, California. He became a naturalized United States citizen March 28,1930, graduated from a high school in 1931. He enlisted in the Air Corps in October 1934, began his flying training a year later and he flew as a flying cadet for one year before being commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1937. He was assigned in March 1940 to Hamilton Field, California as commanding officer of the 79th Pursuit Squadron. In April 1942, he became officer of the 20th Pursuit Group at Charlotte, North Carolina. In October 1943, Ferguson organized and commanded the 405th Fighter-Bomber Group at Waterboro, South Carolina and he participated with the 405th Group in preinvasion attacks on Europe until his assignment in April 1944 as assistant chief of staff with the 9th Fighter Command. He participated as an air controller on the night of the Normandy invasion, in December 1945 he returned to the United States. He later became an instructor in the Tactical Air Section of the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ferguson was assigned in November 1947 to the U. S. Air Force advisory group in Ankara, Turkey, and later became chief of that group. He departed for the Far East in June 1950, where he served as assistant to the commander and later assistant deputy for operations for the U. S. From June 1951 to February 1952, he was commander of the Fifth Air Force in Korea. C. for more than 14 years. First, he became deputy and later director of requirements in the office of the deputy chief of staff for development, then he was named vice commander of the Air Research and Development Command with headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. In December 1961, General Ferguson became deputy chief of staff for research, in that position he monitored the total research and development effort in the Air Force. In September 1966 he assumed command of the Air Force Systems Command and he retired from the Air Force on September 1,1970, and died on July 13,2000, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery

3.
James E. Hill
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Hill was born in 1921, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He graduated from Stillwater High School and then attended Oklahoma State University and he entered the U. S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in March 1942 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon completing pilot training in February 1943. In December 1943, Hill was assigned to the European theater of operations as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot and he became a World War II ace, credited with five enemy aircraft shot down while flying 127 combat missions. He returned to the United States in September 1945 and was released from duty in December 1945. He then became the commander of a P-51 Mustang squadron in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, in November 1948, Hill returned to active duty and served as a flight commander with the 3525th Pilot Training Wing, Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. In August 1950, he was transferred to the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Itazuke Air Base, Japan and he later joined Headquarters Fifth Air Force, Osan Air Base, Korea, where he served as operations officer and chief, Fighter Operations Division, Directorate of Operations. He flew 128 combat missions as an F-80 pilot, downing one enemy aircraft, Hill returned to the United States in September 1951 and was reassigned to the 3525th Pilot Training Wing as an operations and training staff officer. He transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in January 1952 for duty with the Joint Tactical Air Support Board, in April 1953, he departed for England to attend the Royal Air Force Flying College at Royal Air Force Station Manby as an exchange officer. In February 1955, he was transferred to the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, Royal Air Force Station Woodbridge, England, in May 1956, he rejoined the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing and served as director of operations and as deputy commander. Hill returned to the United States in July 1957 and was assigned as senior Air Force adviser for the 121st Tactical Fighter Wing, Ohio Air National Guard, at Lockbourne Air Force Base, from August 1960 to August 1963, he was assigned to Headquarters U. S. He attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces during 1963-64, general Hill returned to the United States in July 1966 and commanded the 3615th Pilot Training Wing, Craig Air Force Base, Alabama. In January 1970, he became commander of the 42d Air Division, Blytheville Air Force Base, general Hill was named deputy assistant to the secretary of defense in July 1971. He remained in that post until June 1972 when he was transferred to the United Kingdom as commander of the Third Air Force, in November 1973, he returned to Headquarters U. S. Air Force to be assistant deputy chief of staff for plans and operations. He became commander of Alaskan Air Command after dissolution of ALCOM, Hill retired on December 31,1979, and in retirement was President of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. Hill died of cancer on May 20,1999 and was buried at the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery and he was a command pilot and wore the Master Missileman Badge. Gen. Hill was the chairman of the Space Foundation from 1986–1999, recipients include,2002 Norman R. Augustine 2003 Capt. James A. Jim Lovell, Jr. USN2004 The late Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, aldridge, Jr.2006 Buzz Aldrin, Ph. D.2007 Simon Ramo, Ph. D.2008 Hans Mark, Ph. D.2009 The Honorable Peter B. Teets 2010 CAPT John Young, USN,2011 Dr. Charles Elachi, Ph. D.2012 Gen. Thomas S. Moorman, Jr. USAF,2013 Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride and this article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document

4.
William T. Hobbins
–
General William T. Hobbins was Commander, U. S. Air Forces Europe, Commander, Air Component Command, Ramstein, and Director, Joint Air Power Competence Center, Kalkar, Germany. General Hobbins entered the Air Force in December 1969 as a graduate of Officer Training School and he has commanded two tactical fighter wings and a composite air group. He has served as the Director of Plans and Operations for U. S, Forces Japan, Director of Plans and Policy for U. S. Atlantic Command, and the Director of Operations for U. S. Air Forces in Europe, as the USAFE Director of Operations, General Hobbins was responsible for the planning, beddown and execution of combat forces in Europe for Operation Allied Force. Whilst serving as Commander, Air Forces Iceland, Hobbins led the wing in the intercept of 80 Soviet bomber aircraft in nine months. A command pilot, as of August 2007 the general has more than 5,000 flying hours, General Hobbins also stars in a number of Armed Forces Network commercials. S. Forces Japan, Yokota Air Base, Japan August 1994 - July 1996, Commander, 18th Wing, Kadena AB, Japan August 1996 - April 1998, Director of Plans and Policy, U. S. S. Southern Command Air Forces, and Air Force Component Commander, U. S. Strategic Command, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona October 2002 - August 2003, Commander, Twelfth Air Force and U. S. Southern Command Air Forces, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona August 2003 - May 2005, Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration, Headquarters U. S. Air Force, Washington, December 2005 - December 2007, Commander, U. S

5.
Chuck Horner
–
Charles Albert Chuck Horner is a retired USAF Four-Star General. He was born in Davenport, Iowa and attended the University of Iowa, on June 13,1958, Horner was commissioned into the Air Force Reserve. During the Vietnam War, he flew in combat as a Wild Weasel pilot, during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, he commanded the American aerial forces, as well as those of the American allies. During the Desert Shield phase of the conflict, Horner briefly served as Commander-in-Chief — Forward of U. S, central Command, while General Schwarzkopf was still in the United States. He currently serves on the board of directors for the US Institute of Peace, General Charles A. Horner was Commander in Chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U. S. Space Command, and Commander of Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, General Horner, an Iowa native, entered the Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He has commanded a training wing, a fighter wing. While Commander of 9th Air Force, he also commanded U. S, central Command Air Forces, in command of all U. S. and allied air assets during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. General Horner is a pilot with more than 5,300 flying hours in a variety of fighter aircraft. During the Vietnam War he flew 41 combat missions over North Vietnam in the F-105 during a tour and he later flew more than 70 combat missions as an F-105 Wild Weasel pilot, deliberately drawing anti-aircraft fire to identify and destroy North Vietnamese defenses. He co-wrote Every Man a Tiger with Tom Clancy, in 2004, Horner served on a Pentagon team that looked into detainee abuse. The U. S. Air Force awards a General Charles A. Horner Tiger Award to one officer and he currently resides in Lake Lorraine, Florida, with a Shalimar, Florida address. McNair, Washington, D. C.1976 National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, August 1975 - June 1976, student, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D. C. June 1976 - March 1979, Deputy Commander for Operations, 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, central Command Air Forces, Shaw AFB, South Carolina. He commanded U. S. and allied air operations for Operation Desert Shield, June 1992 - September 1994, Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U. S. Space Command, Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colorado September 30,1994, also, he has been honored by France, Pakistan and the sovereign states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 1991 U. S. News Trophy 1991 History of Aviation Award 1991 Maxwell A

6.
Chuck Yeager
–
Charles Elwood Chuck Yeager is a former United States Air Force general officer and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight, Yeagers career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as a mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, as the first human to officially break the sound barrier, on October 14,1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft. Although Scott Crossfield was the first to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeagers flying career spans more than 60 years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, including the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. Yeager was born February 13,1923, to farming parents Susie Mae and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia and he had two brothers, Roy and Hal, Jr. and two sisters, Doris Ann and Pansy Lee. His first experience with the military was as a teen at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 26,1945, Yeager married Glennis Dickhouse, and the couple had four children. The name Yeager is an Anglicized form of the German name Jäger or Jaeger and he is the cousin of former baseball catcher Steve Yeager. Yeager enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army Air Forces on September 12,1941, having unusually sharp vision, which once enabled him to shoot a deer at 600 yards, Yeager displayed natural talent as a pilot and was accepted for flight training. He received his wings and a promotion to officer at Luke Field, Arizona. Assigned to the 357th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada, he trained as a fighter pilot, flying Bell P-39 Airacobras. Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron and he named his aircraft Glamorous Glen after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945. Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his 1st aircraft on March 5,1944 during his eighth mission and he escaped to Spain on March 30 with the help of the Maquis and returned to England on May 15,1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping another airman, who had lost part of his leg during the escape attempt, to cross the Pyrenees. He had joined another evader, fellow P-51 pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover, in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. In part, because of his background, he also frequently served as a maintenance officer in his flying units. Yeager demonstrated outstanding flying skills and combat leadership, on October 12,1944, he became the first pilot in his group to make ace in a day, downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Yeager later reported both pilots bailed out and he finished the war with 11.5 official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter

7.
Air Combat Command
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Air Combat Command is one of ten Major Commands in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force at the Pentagon. ACC is headquartered at Langley Field, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia and its commander is General Herbert Hawk Carlisle, with Major General Jerry D. Harris Jr. as Vice Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Steve K. McDonald as the Command Chief Master Sergeant, in addition, ACC augments the forces of the United States European Command, United States Pacific Command and United States Central Command when needed. Air Combat Command consists of approximately 98,000 active duty members, in 2015, responsibility for the B-1 Lancer bomber fleet was also transferred from ACC to AFGSC. Air Combat Command was created 1 June 1992 after the inactivation of the Tactical Air Command, Strategic Air Command, furthermore, ACC had some KC-135 and KC-10 aerial refueling tankers and C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in its composite, reconnaissance, and certain other combat wings. In 1993, control of the ICBM force was transferred to the Air Force Space Command until transferred again to Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 Dec 2009. S, Air Force and the U. S. Navy. Historically, combat command was an air unit designation. During 1941 and early 1942, the air units of the War Department, formerly known as the GHQ Air Force. The AFCC was dissolved in the reorganization of the United States Army, effective 9 March 1942, not long after activation, ACC underwent organizational and mission changes. The first such change was the transfer of the combat search. With the realigning of search and rescue units, ACC gained additional resources, the formal transfer took place on 1 February 1993, when the Air Rescue Service was assigned to ACC. On 2 July of the year, the ARS was disestablished. The USAF Combat Rescue School was subsequently assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, one of the most significant changes for Air Combat Command resulted from an overhaul of flying training responsibilities. Following its activation, ACC was responsible for aircrew training, including initial weapon system. On 1 July 1993, the 58th and 325th Fighter Wings—F-16 and F-15 training units transferred from ACC to Air Education and Training Command. Concurrently, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Tyndall AFB, Florida, for which those respective wings were the host units, however, on 1 October 2012, both Tyndall AFB and the 325th Fighter Wing returned to the control of ACC. The next major change resulted from a fine-tuning of aerial refueling. From its activation, Air Combat Command had assumed ownership of some C-130 Hercules theater airlift assets and KC-10 Extender, there was historical precedent for the reassignment of C-130s to Air Combat Command

8.
405th Air Expeditionary Group
–
The 405th Air Expeditionary Group was a provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The 405 EOG was believed to control Boeing B-1B Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress operations over combat areas in Iraq, the groups World War II predecessor unit, the 405th Fighter Group was assigned to Ninth Air Force in England, flying its first combat mission on 1 May 1944. It flew its last mission in early May 1945 and they group flew P-47 Thunderbolts in the European Theater of Operations starting with the buildup to the Invasion of Normandy through the end of the war in Europe. The 405th was a unit of the Ninth Air Force, IX Fighter Command, IX Tactical Air Command, the 405th was primarily assigned to support Pattons Third Army. The group consisted of the 509th, 510th, and 511th Fighter Squadrons, the group consisted of 73 aircraft. The 405th Bombardment Group was organized on 4 February 1943, at Drew Field near Tampa, Florida, the group was initially equipped with a few Douglass Dauntless and Curtis Helldiver dive bombers. The group gained some P-39 Airacobras before they left Drew, the group was redisignated as the 405th Fighter Bomber Group on 15 August 1943. In September 1943 the group moved to Walterboro, South Carolina, in Walterboro the group was outfitted with the original razorback design P-47 Thunderbolts. In February 1944 the group moved by train to a point of embarkation camp near New York City, the group soon embarked the RMS Mauritania for transport to England. After six days at sea, two of them in conditions, the group disembarked in Liverpool. The group traveled by train to Southampton then via lorrie to Christchurch, from March to 29 June 1944, the 405th operated out of the RAF Christchurch. After setting up camp and training over England, the group began operations over France. During this period their primary task was ground attack ahead of the coming Operation Overlord invasion of Normandy, the group disrupted German positions and transportation infrastructure. Train locomotives were a favorite target, the group destroyed the Seine River bridge at Mantes-Gassicourt, northeast of Paris, just before the invasion, to inhibit movement of German materiel. The group was grounded during the 6 June invasion activities because Allied command was concerned that inexperienced anti-aircraft batteries would mistake P-47s for the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the 405th resumed flying on 10 June, providing close air support to the beachhead. On 18 June 1944, the group was redesignated to the 405th Fighter Group, a few weeks after the invasion, the 405th packed up and moved to a POE near Southampton. While encamped at Christchurch, the Group officers bivouaced in Bure Homage, the groups most notable action was the destruction of an entire German armored division near the town of Avaranches, France on 29 July 1944. After immobilizing leading and trailing elements of the 3 mile long column, the 405th also accepted the surrender of the highly decorated Luftwaffe ace, Hans-Ulrich Rudel and his officers at the end of the war

9.
Godman AFB
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Godman Army Airfield is a military airport located on the Fort Knox United States Army post in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It has four runways and is used entirely by the United States Army Aviation Branch, Godman Army Airfield was established about October 1918 for the 29th Aero Squadron for World War I at then Camp Knox United States Army Air Corps. Its initial mission was to support Army forces at Fort Knox, the 73ds mission was to train and provide tactical reconnaissance in support of Army maneuvers. After the United States entered World War II, Godman AAF became a First Air Force group training station for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber groups, the 387th and 391st Bombardment Groups formed and trained at Godman in 1943 prior to their overseas deployment. In 1944, the changed to replacement training, and the 477th Bombardment Group became the B-25 Replacement Training unit. It trained replacement personnel prior to their reassignment to combat units overseas and it remained at Godman after World War II, and the airfield was designated as a permanent station of the USAAF. In 1946, Godman was reassigned to the Tenth Air Force as part of the Air Force Reserve, the 315th Army Air Force Base Unit became the host organization, and the 477th Bomb Group remained as the flying organization until its inactivation in October 1946. Concurrently, Godman Field was renamed Godman Air Force Base, the airfield was then reassigned to Tactical Air Command. The units P-51 Mustangs were ferried to the Far East, during its federal service period, the wing trained to conduct long range bombardment escort missions. On 9 December 1951, the wing was reassigned to Godman AFB and it was relieved from active service on 1 December 1952 and returned to the control of the New Jersey ANG. After the 1953 armistice in Korea, Godman was phased down, Air Force activities were ended and the base was inactivated on 31 December 1953. It was subsequently transferred to the United States Army and became an aircraft and helicopter airfield in support of Fort Knox. The Thomas Mantell incident began at 1, 20pm on 7 January 1948, several senior officers were summoned, and the base Operations and Intelligence Officer were soon joined by the Commanding Officer, but none were able to identify the object. At the time a flight of four P-51 fighters was on a training flight under the supervision of Flight Commander Captain Thomas Mantell. They were flying towards Godman Field when, at approximately 2, 45pm, the next message came from one of the three remaining pilots, who said he was losing his bearings and was becoming fearful of becoming lost. He too was granted permission to break away and return, the only aircraft now in pursuit of the object was that piloted by Captain Thomas Mantell. At 15,000 feet Mantell contacted the tower and stated that he had the object in sight and was climbing to investigate. A short time later Mantell reported that he was closing on the object, mantells aircraft crashed approximately 90 miles south of Godman Field

10.
New Jersey Air National Guard
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The New Jersey Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of New Jersey, United States of America. It is, along with the New Jersey Army National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the New Jersey Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New Jersey though the office of the New Jersey Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The New Jersey Air National Guard is headquartered at Atlantic City Air National Guard Base, Egg Harbor Township, under the Total Force concept, New Jersey Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. New Jersey ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. It is one of only three ANG super tanker wings composed of more than one KC-135 squadrons and is part of the North East Tanker task force, in addition to their primary air refueling mission, the Wing also supports an Intelligence Squadron and a Contingency Response Group. The New Jersey Air National Guard origins date to 5 June 1917 with the establishment of the 5th Aviation School Squadron at Langley Field, in September 1917 it was re-designated as the 119th Aero Squadron. The squadron was not deployed overseas during World War I, the 141st Aero Squadron was an Air Service, United States Army pursuit squadron, and part of the American Expeditionary Force deployed to France. It was assigned to the 4th Pursuit Group, VI Corps, Air Service, Second United States Army, AEF near the end of World War I. The 141st was involved in 13 combats, the only squadron of the VI Corps, Air Service, Second Army to do so. Its combat commander, Hobey Baker, was a famous hockey and it was said, Hobey preferred Ivy League men in his unit, preferably from Princeton. Indeed, he painted the aircraft in his squadron in Princeton colors, Orange, captain Hobey Baker was killed on December 21,1918 when he took a SPAD XIII up for one last ride. The SPAD developed engine trouble while taking off and Baker died when the aircraft crashed soon thereafter. On 8 September 1973 By order of the Secretary of the Air Force and it was ordered consolidated with the 141st Tactical Fighter Squadron. The consolidated unit was designated as the 141st Tactical Fighter Squadron and was extended federal recognition by the National Guard Bureau same date. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units

11.
108th Wing
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The 108th Wing is a unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard, one of the many units stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. The World War II predecessor unit, 348th Fighter Group, was the most successful P-47 Thunderbolt group in the South West Pacific Theatre and its commander, Colonel Neel Ernest Kearby was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat. Over a dozen of the pilots became Flying aces. The 108th Wing principal mission is air refueling, the wing enhances the Air Forces capability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, the wing is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations. The group performs noncombat evacuations, humanitarian relief operations, and disaster response as well as full spectrum war airbase opening and it is also the first course of its kind in the intelligence community that integrates active duty, National Guard and reserve students. The wing operates a total of 8 KC-135R Stratotankers and Detachment 2, the World War II 348th Fighter Group was redesignated as the 108th Fighter Group and allotted to the New Jersey National Guard on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Newark Municipal Airport and extended federal recognition later that year, initially, the group reported to the 52d Fighter Wing of the New York National Guard and was supported by the 208th Air Service Group. In the fall of 1950, the Air National Guard reorganized its units under the wing base organization that had been used by the regular Air Force since 1947. At Turner it became the 108th Fighter-Bomber Wing in May, in December 1951 it was transferred to Tactical Air Command and moved to Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky where it replaced the 123d Fighter-Bomber Wing, which had moved to England. On 1 December 1952, the wing transferred its mission, personnel and equipment to the 405th Fighter-Bomber Wing, with return to state control, the wing assumed the air defense mission. Despite its retention of the bomber designation, it was gained by Air Defense Command upon mobilization. It was not until 1955 that the wing was redesignated the 108th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, the redesignation coincided with the change from long-range North American P-51H Mustang fighter. Designed for the invasion of Japan, the P-51H was the last variant of the P-51 Mustang of World War II, but was produced too late to see any wartime combat. Not used in the Korean War due to it not being believed as rugged as its famous D model predecessor, in 1955, the Mustangs were retired and the squadron entered the jet age, with the arrival of the North American F-86E Sabre. The 108th FIW was transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1958, the 141st and 119th Tactical Fighter Squadrons transferred its interceptors and received and F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bombers. On 1 October 1961, as a result of the Berlin crisis, all three squadrons were flying the F-84F Thunderstreak

12.
IX Fighter Command
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The IX Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Erlangen and it was inactivated on 16 November 1945. IX Fighter Command was the tactical fighter air arm of Ninth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa during 1942-1943. Reassigned to England, it became the dominant tactical air force over the skies of Western Europe during the 1944 Battle of Normandy, after its inactivation, the majority of its units were incorporated into the postwar United States Air Force Tactical Air Command. In Egypt during January 1943, IX Fighter Command became the organization for Ninth Air Force fighter units assigned to the Western Desert Campaign. IX Fighter Command was reassigned to England in November 1943 as part of Normandy invasion planning and its subordinate units were reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force. During the winter of 1943/44 IX Fighter Command expanded at a rate so that by the end of May 1944. On D-Day IX Fighter Command units carried out air attacks on German forces in Normandy area with P-51 Mustang. Air cover during the amphibious assault by Allied forces on the beaches of France was flown by P-38 Lightnings. With the beaches secure, grups began deploying to France on June 16,1944, by early August most IX Fighter Command groups were transferred to bases in France and assigned to the U. S. Twelfth Army Group. Air Force Combat Units of World War II, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History. U. S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields, D-Day to V-E Day, Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

13.
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
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The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller

14.
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
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The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design, the RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version. In 1949, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral. It flew on 3 June 1950 with Otto P. Haas at the controls, although the airplane was capable of 602 knots, the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak, the F-84 designation was retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling. Production delays with the F-84F forced the USAF to order a number of straight-wing F-84Gs as an interim measure, although tooling commonality with the Thunderjet was supposed to be 55 percent, in reality only fifteen percent of tools could be reused. To make matters worse, the F-84F utilized press-forged wing spars, at the time, only three presses in the United States could manufacture these, and priority was given to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber over the F-84. The YJ65-W-1 engine was considered obsolete and the improved J65-W-3 did not become available until 1954, when the first production F-84F finally flew on 22 November 1952, it differed from the service test aircraft. It had a different canopy which opened up and back instead of sliding to the rear, the aircraft was considered not ready for operational deployment due to control and stability problems. The first 275 aircraft, equipped with conventional stabilizer-elevator tailplanes, suffered from accelerated stall pitch-up, beginning with Block 25, the problem was ameliorated by the introduction of a hydraulically powered one-piece stabilator. A number of aircraft were retrofitted with spoilers for improved high-speed control. As a result, the F-84F was not declared operational until 12 May 1954, the second YF-84F prototype was completed with wing-root air intakes. These were not adopted for the due to loss of thrust. However, this arrangement permitted placement of cameras in the nose, the first YRF-84F was completed in February 1952. The aircraft retained an armament of four guns and could carry up to fifteen cameras. Being largely identical to the F-84F, the Thunderflash suffered from the production delays and engine problems. The aircraft was retired from duty in 1957, only to be reactivated in 1961

15.
422d Bombardment Squadron
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The 422d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was as part of the 305th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Bunker Hill Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 15 February 1961. Established in June 1942 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron, the squadron deployed to the European Theater of Operations in September 1942, being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England. It continued attacks on cities, manufacturing centers, transportation links. On 15 December 1945 it moved to Lechfeld airfield, Germany which it had bombed on 18 March 1944, the 364th Bomb Squadron was inactivated in December 1946 in Germany. During the Korean War, Tactical Air Command trained aircrews at Langley AFB, the three squadrons of the 4400th Combat Crew Training Group performing this mission were Air National Guard units that had been called up for the war. It was then equipped with obsolete B-45 Tornado light bombers, the squadron was inactivated in 1954. The squadron was reactivated in 1959 by Strategic Air Command at MacDill AFB, additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings and the replacement of the B-47 by B-52 Stratofortresses. However, the squadron was never equipped or manned, but it was assigned administratively to several bases before being inactivated in 1961, constituted the 33d Reconnaissance Squadron on 28 Jan 1942. afhra. af. mil/. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

16.
Douglas A-26 Invader
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A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying twice its specified bomb load, a range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft. A re-designation of the type from A-26 to B-26 led to confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which first flew in November 1940, about 16 months before the Douglas designs maiden flight. The A-26 was Douglas Aircrafts successor to the A-20 Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston, one of the most successful and widely operated types flown by Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith, the Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July 1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests revealed excellent performance and handling, but problems with engine cooling led to cowling changes, repeated collapses during testing led to strengthening of the nose landing gear. The A-26 was originally built in two different configurations, the A-26B had a gun nose, which originally could be equipped with a combination of armament including.50 caliber machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or even a 75mm pack howitzer. Normally the gun nose version housed six.50 caliber machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose nose, the A-26Cs glass nose, officially termed the Bombardier nose, contained a Norden bombsight for medium altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose section included two fixed M-2 guns, later replaced by underwing gun packs or internal guns in the wings. An A-26C nose section could be exchanged for an A-26B nose section, or vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus changing the designation. The flat-topped canopy was changed in late 1944 after about 820 production aircraft, alongside the pilot in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member served as navigator and bombardier, a small number of A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, some parts of which could be disabled in flight to allow limited access to the nose section. A tractor-style jump seat was located behind the navigators seat, general George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything. Until changes could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, the 319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26 operations wound down in mid-August 1945 with only a few dozen missions flown, several of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities. Douglas needed better results from the Invaders second combat test, so A-26s began arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force, the initial deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission on 6 September 1944, no aircraft were lost on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air Force announced that it was happy to replace all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader. Due to a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the glass-nose version caught up, besides bombing and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and night interdiction missions were undertaken successfully

17.
429th Air Refueling Squadron
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The 429th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4505th Air Refueling Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, the 429th was initially equipped with Boeing KB-29M Superfortresses, modified bombers equipped with a British-developed hose air refueling systems and transferred from Strategic Air Command. The 429th retired its KB-29s by November 1957, and was equipped with Boeing KB-50 tankers by the end of the year. Even before the change to KB-50s was complete, in September 1957 and these tankers added a General Electric J47 turbojet engine underneath each wing to increase the speed and altitude capability of the aircraft. The units KB-50Js proved difficult to maintain to meet operational commitments, although TAC wanted to replace them with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, in 1960 the Air Force announced that Strategic Air Command would become the Air Forces single manager for air refueling. TACs KB-50s would be phased out by 1964, while SAC would acquire additional KC-135s to support TAC. In October 1963, the 429th inactivated, and its KB-50Js were sent to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol.2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

18.
Boeing KB-29 Superfortress
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The Boeing KB-29 was a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress for air refueling needs by the USAF. Two primary versions were developed and produced, KB-29M and KB-29P, the 509th and 43d Air Refueling Squadrons were created in 1948 to operate the KB-29M tankers. The 303d Bombardment Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB flew B-29s and KB-29s from 1951 to 1953 that provided training for strategic bombardment, deployed at Sidi Slimane AB, French Morocco, Oct 5 - Nov 6,1952. Section source, Baugher and National The B-29 played an important role in developing the use of aerial refueling during the late 1940s. The first aircraft involved in this programme were the KB-29M tanker, at first, a grappling system, known as the looped hose method, was used, the tanker would formate behind, above and to the left of the receiver. It would then unreel a hauling cable attached to a 55lb weight, the receiver would trail a hauling cable ending in a drag cone and a grapnel. With both cables trailed, the tanker would cross to the right of the receiver so the two cables snagged each other, with cables snagged, the tanker hauled both into its fuselage where the receivers cable was connected to the tankers hose. This was then hauled into the receiver, after connecting with internal fuel compartments pumping would begin. When the receiver was full the process was reversed allowing the tanker to recover its hose, while this system was clumsy, it was often used in the late 1940s before a better system was developed. It was most notably used to refuel the Lucky Lady II during her famous circumnavigation of the globe in 1949, the ability of the USAF to circumnavigate the globe demonstrated that its bombers could strike at any target. This helped sway the argument as to whether the USAF or US Navy should provide the USs nuclear delivery capability, the USAF won with the consequential massive expansion of the USAFs Strategic Air Command and cancellation of the US Navys super carriers. The looped hose method was only of use with large multi crew planes since crew members were required to assist in the hauling in, a modified method known as the probe and drogue system was developed to allow single seat aircraft to be refuelled in the air. One KB-29M, redesignated YKB-29T, was modified to have another two refueling hoses on its wingtip and it served as the prototype for the KB-50D. The refuelling systems were developed and installed by Flight Refuelling Ltd, section source, Baugher and National In an effort to improve on the probe-and-drogue system, Boeing developed a rigid flying boom system, which was first used on the KB-29P. The boom was mounted on the aftmost end of the KB-29P, with the V-tail-style surfaces, still used on most USAF tanker aircraft in the 21st century, the boom could be manoeuvered by the operator. The KB-29P was operated by 420th Air Refueling Squadron based at RAF Sculthorpe Norfolk during the mid-1950s, from 1954 to 1957, the 407th Air Refueling Squadron was based at Great Falls Air Force Base. Later the base name was changed to Malmstrom Air Force Base. G. United States Military Aircraft since 1909. Baughers Encyclopedia of Bombers B-29 Index Page

19.
Pacific Air Forces
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Pacific Air Forces is a Major Command of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Pacific Command. The mission of Pacific Air Forces is to provide air and space power to promote U. S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region during peacetime, through crisis. PACAF comprises three numbered Air Forces, nine main bases and nearly 375 aircraft. The commands area of responsibility extends from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Asia and from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the area is home to nearly two billion people who live in 44 countries. Not to be confused with Far East Air Force, the military organization of the United States Army in the Philippine Islands from 1941 to 1942. The beginnings of PACAF can be traced back to June 1944, Far East Air Forces was activated on 3 August 1944, at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. FEAF had actually created on 15 June 1944, and Fifth Air Force assigned to it. FEAF was subordinate to the U. S. Army Forces Far East, the creation of FEAF consolidated the command and control authority over United States Army Air Forces units widely deployed throughout the southwest Pacific in World War II. A realignment of forces was needed by the USAAF to better organize its forces in the Pacific for peacetime. Shortly afterwards, Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the newly established Strategic Air Command on 7 June 1946, the major mission of PACUSA in the postwar years was occupation duty in Japan and the demilitarization of the Japanese society in conjunction with the United States Army. In addition, PACUSA helped to support atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds beginning with the Operation Crossroads test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. With the impending establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service later that year, on that same date, Seventh Air Force in Hawaii was inactivated with its organization absorbed by HQ, FEAF. On 25 June 1950, the forces of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea invaded South Korea. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion, president Harry Truman authorized General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to commit units to the battle. MacArthur ordered General George E. Stratemeyer, CIC of FEAF, despite the post-World War II demobilization of United States armed forces, the U. S. Air Force still had substantial forces in the Pacific to oppose the North Korean military. Support units were equipped with the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft and the Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress, the 512th and 514th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 2143d Air Weather Wing were located at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On 29 June 1950, the unit began flying missions over the Korean Peninsula in their RB-29 Superfortresses to provide FEAF Bomber Command with target. Eventually, these USAF F-86 units would establish a kill ratio of 10,1 versus their KPAF adversaries, during the Korean War FEAFs Fifth Air Force was the main United Nations combat air command until the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the combat 1953

20.
Clark Air Base
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Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U. S. Air Force under the aegis of Pacific Air Forces, the base covered 14.3 square miles with a military reservation extending north that covered another 230 square miles. The base was a stronghold of the combined Filipino and American forces during the months of World War II. Following the departure of American forces in 1991, the base became the site of Clark International Airport, the Clark Freeport Zone. In April 2016, an Air Contingent of USAF A-10s and HH-60s was deployed from U. S. air bases in Pyeongtaek, the air contingent builds upon previous deployments by U. S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Clark. Clark Air Base was originally established as Fort Stotsenburg in Sapang Bato, a portion of Fort Stotsenburg was officially set aside for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps and named Clark Field in September 1919 after Harold M. Clark. Clark later served as a field for U. S. Army Air Corps medium bombers. It was very large for an air field of its day, however, most of them were destroyed on the ground during an air raid nine hours after the Pearl Harbor attack. The base was overrun by Japanese forces in early January 1942, Japanese aircraft flying out of Clark participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the Second World War. During the war, the Allied prisoners on the Bataan Death March passed by the gate of Clark Air Base as they followed the railway tracks north towards Camp ODonnell. Clark Air Base was recaptured by Americans in January 1945, after three months of fighting to liberate the Philippines. It was immediately returned to U. S. Army Air Forces control, Clark grew into a major American air base during the Cold War, serving as an important logistics hub during the Vietnam War. The base was closed by the United States in the early 1990s due to the refusal by the then- Philippine government to renew the lease on the base. In November 1991, the United States Air Force lowered the U. S. flag, with the United States militarys withdrawal from Clark, the base was systematically looted by the local population and was left abandoned for several years. It finally became the Clark Freeport Zone, the site of Clark International Airport and parts of it are owned and operated by the Philippine Air Force, retaining the same name. In June 2012, the Philippine government, under pressure from Chinese claims to their seas and it also hosted an interceptor squadron and a flight school, all of which flew a variety of other combat aircraft. Transient aircraft of many types, especially cargo jets, were common, fighter planes regularly visited to participate in aerial warfare exercises at Crow Valley about 30 miles to the northwest. In November 1973, headquarters for the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing was transferred to Clark Air Base, with this move came two squadrons of C-130E transport aircraft, the 21st Tactical Airlift Squadron and the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron

21.
509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
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The 509th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 10th Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at RAF Alconbury and it was inactivated on 30 December 1992. Established as a squadron in early 1943, trained under Third Air Force with A-24 Banshees. Converted to a P-39 Airacobra squadron in August and finally into a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron in late 1943, deployed to the European Theater of Operations, being assigned to IX Fighter Command in England in early 1944. Flew patrols over the Normandy Landing Beaches,6 June 1944, engaged and completely destroyed a German armored division near Avranches, France,29 July 1944. After immobilizing leading and trailing elements of the 3 mile long column, continued attacking ground targets until German Capitulation in May 1945. Gradually demobilized as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe occupation forces during the summer of 1945, reactivated in 1952 as a Tactical Air Command squadron under Ninth Air Force. Equipped with F-84 Thunderstreaks, later upgrading to F-100 Super Sabres in 1956, when its home station was closed due to budget reductions in 1959, was reassigned to Pacific Air Forces in the Philippines. Re-equipped with F-86D Sabre interceptors, and provided air defense for that nation in the early 1960s. Re-equipped with modern F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors in late 1960, as the Vietnam War intensified, deployed flights to both Thailand and South Vietnam throughout the 1960s, providing air defense of Bangkok and Saigon as well as other areas from enemy aircraft. The 509ths Duces arrived at Da Nang Air Base,4 August 1964 from Clark Air Base, inactivated in 1970 with the phaseout of the F-102 as well as the general drawdown of United States forces in Indochina. Reactivated in 1980 as an A-10 Thunderbolt II Tactical Fighter Squadron at RAF Bentwaters, flew tactical fighter training missions throughout the 1980s from the United Kingdom as well as a forward locations at Ahlhorn Air Base and Norvenich Air Base West Germany. Reassigned to RAF Alconbury in 1988 in a USAFE dispersal of the 6-squadron host 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at the bases of RAF Bentwaters/RAF Woodbridge. Inactivated in 1992 as a result of the end of the Cold War, footnotes Bibliography Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

22.
North American F-86D Sabre
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The North American F-86D Sabre was a transonic jet all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force and others. Based on North Americans F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a fuselage, larger afterburner engine. The YF-95 was a development of the F-86 Sabre, the first aircraft designed around the new 2. 75-inch Mighty Mouse Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket, a second prototype, 50-578, was also built, but the YF-95 nomenclature was short-lived as the design was subsequently redesignated YF-86D. Later models of the F-86D received an uprated J-47-GE-33 engine rated at 5,550 lbf, a total of 2,504 D-models were built. On 18 November 1952, F-86D, 51-2945, set a record of 698.505 mph. Captain J. Slade Nash flew over a three km course at the Salton Sea in southern California at a height of only 125 ft. Another F-86D broke this record on 16 July 1953, when Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns, flying F-86D 51-6145, in the same path of the previous flight. YF-95A prototype all-weather interceptor, two built, designation changed to YF-86D YF-86D originally designated YF-95A, F-86D Production interceptor originally designated F-95A,2,504 built. F-86G Provisional designation for F-86D variant with uprated engine and equipment changes,406 built as F-86Ds, yF-86K Basic version of F-86D intended for export with rocket tray replaced by four 20 mm cannon and simplified fire control system, two conversions. F-86K NATO version of F-86D, MG-4 fire control system, four 20 mm M24A1 cannon with 132 rounds per gun,120 were built by North American,221 were assembled by Fiat. F-86L Upgrade conversion of F-86D with new electronics, extended wingtips and wing leading edges, revised cockpit layout, source, Dorr Denmark Royal Danish Air Force Received 59 ex-USAF F-86Ds 1958-1960, assigned to 723,726 and 728 Squadrons. France French Air Force Fiat built 62 F-86Ks for France, assigned to EC 1/13 Artois, EC 2/13 Alpes, serials were 55-4814/4844, 55-4846/4865, 55-4872/4874, 55-4876/4879. Germany German Air Force Acquired 88 U. S. F-86Ks 22 July 1957–23 June 1958, the Ks were assigned to Jagdgeschwader 75/renamed 74. Greece Greek Air Force Acquired some U. S. F-86Ds were received in 1961, honduras Honduran Air Force Acquired Six Venezuelan F-86Ks in 1970. Italy Italian Air Force Fiat produced 121 F-86Ks for Italy, 1955-1958, also,120 U. S. F-86Ks were acquired. F-86s were assigned to the AMI air groups,6 Gruppo COT/1 Stormo,17 Gruppo/1 Stormo,23 Gruppo/1 Stormo,21 Gruppo/51 Aerobrigata,22 Gruppo/51 Aerobrigata and 12 Gruppo/4 Aerobrigata. Japan Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Acquired 122 US F-86Ds, 1958–1961, assigned to four all-weather interceptor Hikōtai, Netherlands Royal Netherlands Air Force Acquired 57 U. S. -built and six Fiat-built F-86K Sabres, 1955–1956, and assigned to three squadrons, No. Norway Royal Norwegian Air Force Acquired 60 U. S. -built F-86K Sabres, 1955–1956, philippines Philippine Air Force Acquired 20 F-86Ds, assigned to 8th Fighter Interceptor Squadron Vampires beginning 1960, part of the U. S. military assistance package

23.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
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The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Forces air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. Designed and manufactured by Convair,1,000 F-102s were built, a member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAFs first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling, the F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, the follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102. On 8 October 1948, the board of officers of the U. S. Four months later, on 4 February 1949, the USAF approved the recommendation, in November 1949, the Air Force decided that the new aircraft would be built around a fire-control system. The FCS was to be designed before the airframe to ensure compatibility, the airframe and FCS together were called the weapon system. In January 1950, the USAF Air Materiel Command issued request for proposals to 50 companies for the FCS, by May, the list was revised downward to 10. Following recommendations by the committee to the Saville Board, the proposals were further reduced to two competitors, Hughes Aircraft and North American Aviation. Although the Valley Committee thought it was best to award the contract to companies, Hughes was chosen by Saville and his team on 2 October 1950. Proposals for the airframe were issued on 18 June 1950, on 2 July 1954, three companies, Convair, Republic and Lockheed won the right to build a mockup. Until then, Convair had done research into delta-winged aircraft, experimenting with different designs, of the three, the best design was to win the production contract under the name Project MX-1554. In the end, Convair emerged as the victor with its design, designated XF-102, after Lockheed dropped out, the development of three different designs was too expensive and in November, only Convair was allowed to continue with its Model 8-80. To speed development, it was proposed to equip the prototypes, continued delays to the J67 and MA-1 FCS led to the decision to place an interim aircraft with the J40 and a simpler fire control system into production as the F-102A. The failure of the J40 led to the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet with afterburner, rated with 10,000 pounds-force of thrust being substituted for the prototypes, the F-102B would later evolve to become the F-106A, dubbed the Ultimate Interceptor. The prototype YF-102 made its first flight on 23 October 1953, at Edwards AFB, the second aircraft flew on 11 January 1954, confirming a dismal performance

24.
510th Tactical Fighter Squadron
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The 510th Fighter Squadron is part of the 31st Operations Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy. It is a combat-ready F-16CM fighter squadron prepared to deploy and fly combat sorties as tasked by NATO, the squadron employs a full range of the latest state-of-the-art precision ordnance. The 510th Fighter Squadron was originally formed as the 625th Bombardment Squadron, part of the 405th Bombardment Group, at Drew Field, Florida, in 1943, on 15 August 1943, the 625th was renamed the 510th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. In late 1943, the moved to Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina, and began flying the Bell P-39 Airacobra. In March 1944, the 510th moved to RAF Christchurch, England, the unit was credited with 39 kills. In late 1945, the 510th was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, in 1952, the 510th was reactivated at Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky, flying the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak. In April 1953, the relocated to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. In 1959, the 510th moved to Clark Air Base, Philippines and assumed the personnel, in 1964, it moved to England Air Force Base, Louisiana. At the start of the Vietnam War, the 510th established a new home at Bien Hoa Air Base, the 510th flew over 27,200 combat missions in Southeast Asia. In 1969, the unit again inactivated, in 1979, the 510th reactivated at RAF Bentwaters, England, and began receiving the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II. In 1991, the 510th deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, in support of Operation Desert Storm, in 1993, the 510th relocated to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. During 1993 and 1994, the 510th flew more than 1,700 combat sorties from Aviano Air Base, Italy, in the skies over Bosnia and Herzegovina, the squadron became the Bosnia Buzzards. At Aviano, the returned to its previous mission as an operational combat fighter squadron. The 510th, during Operation Deliberate Force, was the first F-16 Block 40 squadron to drop a laser-guided bomb, the 510th led the Tactical Air Forces with the first combat use of Night Vision Goggles in an F-16 during Operation Deliberate Guard. The 510th led the way by being one of the first F-16 units to become Forward Air Controllers, in October 1998, the squadron deployed with the F-16 to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey for the first time to fly in support of Operation Northern Watch. In Operation Allied Force, the Air War over Serbia, the 510th flew more missions than any other F-16 squadron. Subsequently, the BALKAN BUZZARDS the squadron has expanded into an Expeditionary Air Force, during those deployments the FIGHTIN BUZZARDS engaged in combat operations over Iraq in both surface attack and combat search and rescue. Army Air Forces Stations, A Guide to the Stations Where U. S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II, maxwell AFB, AL, Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center

25.
North American F-100 Super Sabre
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The North American F-100 Super Sabre was an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air superiority fighter, adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 was supplanted by the Mach two class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the air forces primary close air support jet until being replaced by the more efficient subsonic LTV A-7 Corsair II, the F-100 also served in other NATO air forces and with other U. S. allies. In its later life, it was referred to as the Hun. In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45° wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre, the mockup was inspected on 7 July 1951, and after over a hundred modifications, the new aircraft was accepted as the F-100 on 30 November 1951. Extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft was notable, on 3 January 1952, the USAF ordered two prototypes followed by 23 F-100As in February and an additional 250 F-100As in August. The YF-100A first flew on 25 May 1953, seven ahead of schedule. It reached Mach 1.04 in spite of being fitted with a de-rated XJ57-P-7 engine, the second prototype flew on 14 October 1953, followed by the first production F-100A on 9 October 1953. These findings were confirmed during Project Hot Rod operational suitability tests. Particularly troubling was the yaw instability in certain regimes of flight which produced inertia coupling, the aircraft could develop a sudden yaw and roll which would happen too fast for the pilot to correct and would quickly over-stress the aircraft structure to disintegration. It was under conditions that North Americans chief test pilot. Another control problem stemmed from handling characteristics of the wing at high angles of attack. As the aircraft approached stall speeds, loss of lift on the tips of the caused an violent pitch-up. This particular phenomenon became known as the Sabre dance, nevertheless, delays in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak program pushed the Tactical Air Command to order the raw F-100A into service. Tactical Air Command also requested that future F-100s be fighter-bombers, with the capability of delivering nuclear bombs, the North American F-107 was a follow-on Mach 2 development of the F-100 with the air intake moved above and behind the cockpit. It was not produced in quantity in favor of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the F-100A officially entered USAF service on 27 September 1954, with the 479th Fighter Wing at George AFB, California

26.
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
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The crisis started with the 823 Artillery Bombardment at 5,30 pm on August 23,1958, when the PRCs Peoples Liberation Army began an intense artillery bombardment against Quemoy. The ROC troops on Kinmen dug in and then returned fire, in the heavy exchange of fire, roughly 440 ROC soldiers and 460 PRC soldiers were killed. This conflict was a continuation of the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Nationalist Chinese had begun to build on the island of Kinmen and the nearby Matsu archipelago. During 1954, the PLA began firing artillery at both Kinmen and some of the nearby Matsu islands, the American Eisenhower Administration responded to the request for aid from the ROC according to its obligations in the mutual defense treaty that had been ratified in 1954. These missiles gave the Nationalist Chinese pilots a decisive edge over the Soviet-made MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters in the skies over the Matsu Islands, the ROC pilots used the Sidewinder missiles to score numerous kills on PLAAF MiG aircraft. The US Armys contribution was to reinforce the air defense capability of the ROC. A provisional Nike battalion was organized at Fort Bliss, TX, the 2nd Missile Battalion was augmented with detachments of signal, ordnance and engineers, totaling some 704 personnel. Recent research from the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration also indicates that the U. S. Air Force was prepared for nuclear warfare against the PRC. Twelve long-range 203 mm M115 howitzer artillery pieces and numerous 155 mm howitzers were transferred from the U. S. Marine Corps to the Army of the ROC and these were sent west to Kinmen Island to gain superiority in the artillery duel back and forth over the straits there. The impact of these artillery pieces led some members of the PLA to believe that American artillerymen had begun to use nuclear weapons against them. Soon, the Soviet Union dispatched its foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, to Beijing to discuss the actions of the PLA and the Red Chinese Air Force, with advice of caution to the Red Chinese. On September 22,1958, the Sidewinder missile was used for the first time in combat as 32 Nationalist Chinese F-86s clashed with 100 Red Chinese MiGs in a series of aerial engagements. Numerous MiGs were shot down by Sidewinders, the first kills to be scored by air-to-air missiles in combat, soon, the PRC was faced with a stalemate, the PLAs artillerymen had run out of artillery shells. The Red Chinese government announced a large decrease in bombardment levels on October 6, afterwards, both sides continued to bombard each other with shells containing propaganda leaflets on alternate days of the week. This strange informal arrangement continued until the normalization of relations between the United States and the PRC in 1979. The timed shelling eventually created little damage and casualties, it was aimed at military compounds. It was also a way to expend expired ammunition and training new crews for the PRC in which eventually became a one way shelling from PRC to ROC. The spent shell casings and fragments have become a resource for steel for the local economy

27.
England Air Force Base
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England Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Louisiana, located 5 miles Northwest of Alexandria and about 170 miles Northwest of New Orleans. Originally known as Alexandria Army Air Base, on 23 June 1955 the facility was renamed England Air Force Base in honor of Lt Col John Brooke England, the base was closed in 1992. The airfield and buildings are now Alexandria International Airport, the base was opened on 21 October 1942 and during the Second World War performed Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircrew training. It was placed on inactive status on September 23,1946, although a cadre of Army. On 10 October 1950, the United States Air Force reopened Alexandria Air Force Base during the Korean War, the stations primary mission was tactical fighter operations for Tactical Air Command. ANG personnel trained at Alexandria AFB 1950/51, being replaced by active duty Air Force personnel in 1951/52, 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing,1 January 1953 –1 April 1959 Active duty Air Force wing activated at Alexandria AFB. Three operational squadrons being equipped with North American F-51D Mustang. Wing became first TAC unit to perform six-month TDY rotations with NATO at Aviano AB, Italy, with continuing to support NATO in France. Redesignated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing 1 July 1958, inactivated 1 April 1959 as part of a general budgetary reduction of USAF wings. Aircraft transferred to Air National Guard, 420th Air Refueling Squadron,18 March 1954 –4 October 1955. 1st Air Commando/Special Operations Wing 15 January 1966 –15 July 1969 317th, 319th, redesignated 1st SOW8 July 1968. Redesignated as Group,15 September 1970, inactivated July 1973 due to US withdrawal from South Vietnam. Upon group inactivation, 6th SOTS reassigned to 1st SOW at Hurlburt Field but remained at England AFB until inactivation, on 15 September 1970, the 4403d Tactical Fighter Wing, a temporary Major Air Command-Controlled unit, activated at England. With its subordinate 416th and 431st Tactical Fighter Squadrons, it absorbed returning North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft of 31st TFW from Tuy Hoa Air Base South Vietnam and it transferred aircraft and other assets to the Air National Guard. Acted as holding unit for arriving LTV A-7D Corsair II aircraft starting April 1972, the 4403d TFW and the 416th TFS both inactivated on 1 July 1972. On 1 July 1972, the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing reactivated at the base, without personnel or equipment, three A-7D tactical fighter squadrons formed. The wing re-equipped with Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft in 1981, redesignated 23d Fighter Wing 1 October 1991. Alexandria AFB was base for Air Defense Command interceptor and radar units along the Gulf Coast, in 1959, the 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, assigned to the 32d Air Division stationed F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors at the base between 1959-1960

28.
90th Tactical Fighter Squadron
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The 90th Fighter Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 3d Operations Group, 3d Wing, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, the squadron is equipped with the F-22 Raptor Fighter. The 90 FS is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, first being organized as the 90th Aero Squadron on 20 August 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas. The squadron deployed to France and fought on the Western Front during World War I as a Corps observation squadron. During World War II, the unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citation, during the Cold War the squadron fought in the Korean War and Vietnam War. The 90th Fighter Squadron trains in the missions of offensive counter-air, defensive counter-air and suppression of enemy air defenses, as well as strategic attack. The men in it were largely from two detachments, one from Vancouver Barracks, Washington, which arrived at Kelly Field on 18 August, another from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which arrived on 25 August. Both of these detachments had been held from the date of their arrival until 25 September under Recruit Camp Headquarters as a Provisional Squadron, the first few months of its existence were consumed by the necessary training to prepare the men for operations in France during World War I. On 30 September, the Squadron left Kelly Field for the Aviation Concentration Center, Camp Mills, Garden City, New York, Long Island, where it arrived five days later. Here they stayed for several weeks performing guard duty and fatigue work, on 26 October, orders were received to pack up equipment and to prepare for immediate overseas departure. The following day the Squadron was moved to Pier 54, New York Harbor, the crossing of the Atlantic was uneventful, and on 10 November the Orduna moved into the dock at Liverpool, England. On 12 November 1917, the men of the 90th arrived at Le Havre, boarding the famous Hommes 40, Chevaux 8 railroad box cars they were shipped to Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome for what they thought would be immediate deployment to the front. After seven months at Colombey, the 90th Aero Squadron was designed as a Corps Observation squadron, two days later it reached what was called the Zone of Advance at Ourches Aerodrome. The squadrons first aircraft were the Sopwith 1½ Strutter ground attack aircraft, at Ourches, the 90th and other squadrons were engaged in combat operations, both in aerial combat and aerial reconnaissance photography. It took part in operations in the Toul Sector, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, later, the squadron upgraded to Salmson 2-A2s SPAD Xis, and Breguet BR-14 observation aircraft. Due to ever-present low clouds and rain, the flyers were forced to drop dangerously close to the ground to carry out their missions, the 90th Aero Squadron carried out many reconnaissances, engaged in 23 combats and relieved official confirmation for 7 aerial victories. The group’s lucky “Seven Up” emblem of red dice with white dots reading “7” no matter which way it was tallied, proved prophetic, for they suffered 3 casualties, in September 1918, it participated in the final allied offensives. The 90th earned a reputation for its ground attack missions during its continuous participation in the air offensive over Saint-Mihiel

29.
834th Airlift Division
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The 834th Airlift Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii and it was inactivated in April 1959 when the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing was also inactivated, leaving only a single wing at England. Its support organizations were replaced by assigned to the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing. The division was activated again in 1964, when England once again supported two fighter wings, however, by 1966, the divisions units had deployed overseas, primarily to support the War in Vietnam. By the summer of 1966, the division was stripped of its manning, in October, the 834th transferred on paper to Tan Son Nhut Airport, where it assumed responsibility for controlling all airlift in South Viet Nam. The 834th was assigned two wings flying Fairchild C-123 Providers and de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribous and controlled Lockheed C-130 Hercules rotated to Vietnam from wings stationed elsewhere. One member of the division, Lt Col Joe M. Jackson, was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a combat team left behind when an airfield being overrun by the Viet Cong was evacuated. In December 1974, the division was transferred to Military Airlift Command along with other theater airlift units, one month later, it was inactivated and its units transferred to Twenty-Second Air Force. The division returned to the Pacific in 1978 as the 834th Airlift Division when it assumed responsibility for MAC assets in the Pacific, during Desert Storm its commander acted as the commander of airlift forces in Saudi Arabia. The 834th was inactivated when PACAF assumed responsibility for airlift in the Pacific from MAC, the division was first activated in September 1957 at England Air Force Base, Louisiana and assumed command over the 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing and the newly activated 401st Fighter-Bomber Wing. Both wings were converting from the Republic F-84 Thunderstreak to the North American F-100 Super Sabre when they were assigned to the 834th, the 366th Wing also had an air refueling squadron flying Boeing KB-50 Superfortress tankers attached to it. The division supervised operations and training, exercises, firepower demonstrations and it initially emphasized attaining a capability to deliver nuclear weapons, while also maintaining a secondary air defense capability. The division was active at England for a little more than eighteen months, inactivating in April 1959 when the 366th Wing inactivated. In July 1958, the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying McDonnell F-101 Voodoos from Bergstrom Air Force Base, the 27th was winding up operations as the tactical fighter version of the Voodoo was leaving TACs inventory and TAC was transferring Bergstrom to the control of Strategic Air Command. In February 1959, the 27th was relieved from this attachment when it ceased operations at Bergstrom and transferred on paper to Cannon Air Force Base, in 1965, TAC began forming the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing with F-100 aircraft at England. With two wings again assigned to the base, the 834th was reactivated and resumed host responsibility for the base, the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida was also assigned to the division. However, the focus of the division and its component wings focused more and more on the War in Vietnam, all three wings deployed squadrons to Vietnam, and in November, the 3d Wing moved to Bien Hoa Air Base to conduct combat operations. On 15 October 1966 the 834th moved without personnel or equipment to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, to become the controlling agency for theater airlift operations in South Vietnam

30.
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
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Takhli is the home of the Royal Thai Air Force Wing 4, 3d air division. In the late 1950s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency used Takhli as operating base for CIA resupply of Tibetan freedom fighters, cIA-operated C-130A Hercules transports flew men and supplies over Indian airspace, with the consent of Prime Minister Nehru, for parachute drops into Communist Chinese-occupied Tibet. Under Thailands gentlemans agreement with the United States, Royal Thai Air Force Bases used by the USAF were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, All United States Air Force personnel were fully armed after 1965. The USAF airmen at Takhli were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces, Takhli was the location for TACAN station Channel 43 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions. Thailand-based aircraft flew missions mostly into Laos until the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which expanded the air war into North Vietnam, military Assistance Group in South Vietnam was upgraded to U. S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, a promotion which gave it authority to combat troops. The United States Air Force component of the U. S, Pacific Command was Pacific Air Forces. Thirteenth Air Force was headquartered at Clark Air Base, Philippines, Seventh Air Force, another Numbered Air Force of PACAF was headquartered at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, although the Seventh controlled many units based in Thailand. The commander, Seventh Air Force, played a role as MACVs deputy for air operations. In July 1962, the 6011th Air Base Squadron was organized, at Takhli, base support for the rotating TAC F-100 squadrons was provided by the 6011th ABS. In an organizational change, the 331st Air Base Squadron replaced the 6011th ABS at Takhli in July 1963 as the host unit at Takhli, the 331st ABS came under the command and control of 35th Tactical Group at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base, near Bangkok. The 27th TFW kept a rotational deployment of three squadrons of F-100s in Takhli until November 1965 when F-105 Thunderchiefs began to arrive on a permanent basis and this deployment was named FIELD GLASS. The first recorded loss was an F-100D, shot down on 18 August 1964 over Laos. The Clark F-100s remained at Takhli until 20 August 1965 on a rotating basis, F-100 Super Sabre squadrons deployed to Takhli were 522d Tactical Fighter Squadron Deployed,13 February-c. 7 March 1961,5 February-15 June 1962,12 December 1962-c,15 February 1963,16 March-6 May 1964,8 August-15 November 1964,15 August-25 November 1965 523d Tactical Fighter Squadron Deployed,5 September-20 November 1961,12 October 1962-c. The squadron again deployed to Takhli between 26 August–28 October 1965, another PACAF squadron, the 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron, deployed to Takhli between 27 June–26 August 1965 from the 6441st TFW, at Yokota AB, Japan. On 8 July 1965 the 6235th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated to replace the 6441st TFW, the F-105 was destined to become a major participant in the war in Vietnam, and the primary aircraft flown from Takhli during the Vietnam War

31.
Royal Thai Air Force
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The Royal Thai Air Force or RTAF is the air force of the Kingdom of Thailand. Since its establishment in 1913 as one of the earliest air forces of Asia, during the Vietnam War era, the air force was supplied with USAF-aid equipment. In February 1911 Belgian pilot Charles Van Den Born displayed the first aircraft in Siam at Bangkoks Sapathum Horse Racing Course, king Rama VI was sufficiently impressed that on 28 February 1912 he sent three Army officers to France to learn to fly. After receiving their wings, the returned to Siam in November 1913, bringing with them eight aircraft, four Breguets. In March 1914, Thai aviation moved from Sapathum to Don Muang then north of Bangkok, the Ministry of Defence placed the Siamese Flying Corps under the Army Engineer Inspector General Department. In 1937, it became an independent service known as the Royal Siamese Air Force, two years later, when the kingdoms name was changed to Thailand, it became the Royal Thai Air Force. During the French-Thai War, the Thai Air Force achieved several air-to-air-victories in dogfights against the Vichy Armée de lAir, other RTAF personnel took an active part the anti-Japanese resistance movement. The Thai Air Force sent three C-47s to support the United Nations in Korean War, the Wings Unit, operating the C-47, also joined the anti-communist forces in the Vietnam War. The Royal Thai Air Force is commanded by the Commander of the Royal Thai Air Force currently Air Chief Marshal Prajin Jantong, the Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters is located in Don Muang Airbase, Bangkok, Thailand. The headquarters group in Bangkok performs the usual general staff functions, the support group provides engineering, communications, ordnance, transportation, quartermaster, and medical services support. The education group coordinates and supervises all air force training programmes, the special service group is responsible for the welfare of air force personnel and coordinates the activities of Thai civil aviation with those of the air force. The Royal Thai Air Force maintains a number of bases which were constructed between 1954 and 1968, have permanent buildings and ground support equipment. All but one were built and used by United States forces until their withdrawal from Thailand in 1976 when Thai air force assumed use of the installations at Takhli and Nakhon Ratchasima. In the late 1980s, these bases and Don Muang Air Base outside Bangkok, maintenance of base facilities abandoned by the United States proved costly and exceeded Thai needs. Nonetheless, all runways were available for training and emergency use. By 2004 the Royal Thai Air Force had its base at Don Muang airport. The RTAF also had large air fields and facilities at Nakon Ratchasima Ubon Ratchathani, the following squadrons are currently active with the Royal Thai Air Force. This 100 man unit, part of the Royal Thai Air Forces Special Combat Operations Squadron, was formed in the late 1970s and are based near Don Muang Airport and they have three assault platoons, each divided into two sections

32.
Pathet Lao
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The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was successful in assuming political power in 1975. The Pathet Lao were always associated with Vietnamese communists. During the civil war, it was organized, equipped. They fought against the anti-communist forces in the Vietnam War, eventually, the term became the generic name for Laotian communists. The political movement of the Pathet Lao was called first the Lao Peoples Party, key Pathet Lao leaders include Prince Souphanouvong, Kaysone Phomvihane, Phoumi Vongvichit, Nouhak Phoumsavanh and Khamtay Siphandone. The political wing of the Pathet Lao, called the Lao Patriotic Front served in multiple coalition governments, through the 1960s and 1970s the Pathet Lao battled the Royal Lao government during the Laotian Civil War, gaining control of the north and east of Laos. The Pathet Lao gained power throughout the country by the spring of 1975, in December, the US-backed Vientiane government fell and the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party formed a new government. The organization can trace its roots from the Second World War just as the Khmer Issarak in Cambodia and the Viet Minh and Vietnam Peoples Army in Vietnam did in the war as well. In August 1950, Souphanouvong joined the Viet Minh in their headquarters north of Hanoi, Vietnam, the Pathet Lao founded resistance government with members, Souphanouvong, Kaysone Phomvihane, Nouhak Phoumsavanh, Phoumi Vongvichit, Souk Vongsak, Sithon Kommadam, and Faydang Lobliayao. This was an attempt to give a front of authority to the Lao communist movement by claiming to represent a united non-partisan effort. Two of its most important founders were members of the Indochinese Communist Party, in 1953, Pathet Lao fighters accompanied an invasion of Laos from Vietnam led by Viet Minh forces, they established a government at Viengxay in Houaphan province in northeast Laos. The communists began to make incursions into central Laos with the support of the Viet Minh, and a war erupted. The 1954 Geneva Conference agreements required the withdrawal of foreign forces, two months after the conference, the Viet Minh-North Vietnamese formed the unit Group 100 with headquarters at Ban Nameo. The unit effectively controlled and directed the Pathet Lao movement and it was formed into an official party, the Lao Patriotic Front, in 1956. Its stated goal was to wage the communist struggle against capitalism, unstated was its subordination to the Communist Party of Vietnam. A coalition government was established in 1957 between the monarchists and communists, but it collapsed in 1959, bringing about a resumption of fighting, by the late 1950s, North Vietnam had occupied areas of eastern Laos. The area was used as a route for men and supplies destined for the insurgency in South Vietnam

33.
Bien Hoa AB
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Bien Hoa Air Base is a Vietnam Peoples Air Force military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about 25 kilometres from Saigon near the city of Biên Hòa within Đồng Nai Province. During the Vietnam Wars, the base was used by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, the United States used it as a major base from 1961 through 1973, stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there. Bien Hoa is located on quiet, flat grounds in a rural area 25 kilometres northeast of Saigon, the French Air Force established an air base, the Base aérienne tactique 192, which was very active during the First Indochina War. On 1 June 1955, Bien Hoa Air Base became the VNAFs logistics support base when the French evacuated their main depot at Hanoi, at that time the VNAF was in its final days as an auxiliary air arm under total French control. Not long after it was established as a VNAF base the facility took on a role as well as that of a depot. It was here that the VNAFs 1st Fighter Squadron was formed on 1 June 1956, from this point Bien Hoa became the base of newly formed and continually growing air units. The VNAF 2311th Air Group, later to become an Air Wing, and the base supported the greatest number of air combat units than any other have throughout South Vietnam. With the influx of USAF tactical air units in the early 1960s, the USAF forces stationed there were under the command of the Pacific Air Forces. Bien Hoa was the location for TACAN station Channel 73 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions and its military mail address was APO San Francisco,96227. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron was to proceed as a training mission, the mission was to be covert. The commandos were to maintain a low profile in-country, the aircraft were painted with VNAF insignia, and all pilots wore plain flight suits minus all insignia and name tags that could identify them as Americans. They also sanitized their wallets and did not carry Geneva Convention cards, the unit would be officially titled Det.2 of the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron, code named Farm Gate. The unit would administratively and operationally belong to the Air Force section of the Military Assistance Advisory Group Vietnam, Detachment 2A would be the B-26 Invader unit, Detachment 2B would be the T-28 Trojan unit. Within days of arrival, the T-28s and pilots were ready for orientation flights, the Farm Gate pilots launched with VNAF escorts and delivered their ordnance, but, when mission reports were reviewed, the crews were told not to conduct independent air operations. The cover story was that the Americans were in-country to train South Vietnamese pilots, on 26 December 1961, Washington issued new regulations directing that all Farm Gate missions would include at least one South Vietnamese national on board every aircraft. McNamara further amplified this requirement by stating that the Vietnamese would fly in the backseat position, Americans, with Vietnamese aboard, were soon flying to destroy Viet Cong supply lines and forces. In February 1962, a Farm Gate SC-47 on a drop mission in the highlands near Bao Loc was shot down, killing the six airmen. This was the first of several Farm Gate losses, enemy attacks were increasing across the countryside, and there were rising calls for air support to embattled ground troops

34.
41st Air Division
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The 41st Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Fifth Air Force at Yokota Air Base and it was inactivated on 15 January 1968. The 41st Air Division was organized, administered, equipped, and it conducted combined planning with the Japan Air Self Defense Force and, when directed by higher headquarters, joint and combined training with other allied forces. It also developed tactics and examined technical aspects of aerial warfare requirements for new weapons and weapon systems, in addition, its assigned units carried out aerial surveillance and reconnaissance missions and collected, evaluated, produced and disseminated intelligence data. In 1962 it became an organization that controlled, evaluated. In fulfilling this role the division participated in such as Commando Night, Commando Rock, Bright Night. In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964, the 41st deployed personnel and these deployments continued periodically until the unit was inactivated. Fifth Air Force List of United States Air Force air divisions This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

35.
B-57B Canberra
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The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twinjet tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force in 1953. The B-57 is a version of the British English Electric Canberra manufactured by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The B-57 Canberra holds the distinction of being the first jet bomber in U. S. service to drop bombs during combat. The B-57 Canberra was also sold to customers abroad, further combat use was seen by the Pakistani Air Force during the Second Kashmir War. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the USAF found itself in dire need of an all-weather interdiction aircraft, in response to these needs, the USAF requested the British government to provide a private demonstration of the English Electric Canberra, a newly developed jet-powered bomber. On 16 September 1950, the USAF formally issued a request for a bomber, the sought aircraft had to possess a top speed of 630 mph, ceiling of 40,000 feet. Full all-weather capability and a reconnaissance role also had to be included in the design. The American contenders included the Martin XB-51, the North American B-45 Tornado, to expedite the process, only projects based on existing aircraft were considered and, unusually, the service considered foreign aircraft. These included the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 and the British English Electric Canberra, as part of the USAF evaluations process, all five aircraft were submitted to a series of fly-offs to determine their performance. On 21 February 1951, a British Canberra B, according to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Canberra proved to be significantly superior to any of the competing aircraft, and that its selection was beyond doubt by the end of the competition. Martin Company, under which it was proposed that Martin would receive a license to build the Canberra in the United States. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Americanization of the Canberra program proved effective at dismissing many of the opponents that had opposed the project. On 23 March 1951, the USAF issued a contract to Martin, requesting the manufacturing of a quantity of 250 Canberras. On 3 April 1951, English Electric and Martin both signed a licensing agreement to cover the Canberras production. The crash did lead to design changes in the face of political pressure. As such, more than 30 changes that had been requested by the Wright Air Development Center were rejected on program schedule or cost grounds, in early July 1953, the first US-built production aircraft rolled out, it conducted its maiden flight on 20 July 1953. One month later, this initial production aircraft was accepted by the USAF, in place of the curtailed B-57A, a more refined bomber variant, the B-57B, was developed. The B-57B introduced several major changes.50 cal Browning machine guns installed within the wings

36.
Thirteenth Air Force
–
The Thirteenth Air Force was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. It was last headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu,13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States. It was one of the oldest continuously active numbered air forces in the United States Air Force. Established on 14 December 1942 at Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield, on New Caledonia,13 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the Pacific Theater of World War II. During the Cold War,13 AF remained in the Philippines, providing air defense of the nation, during the Korean War, its units provided staging areas for people and equipment destined for the war zone. 13 AF units last engaged in combat during the SS Mayaguez Incident in May 1975 and it was inactivated on 28 September 2012 and its functions merged with PACAF. The command is charged with planning, executing, and assessing operations in support of the U. S. On behalf of the Pacific Air Forces commander, the 13th AF commander is positioned to command Air Force forces, combined or joint force air components, Antarctic Program through Operation Deep Freeze. Headquarters,13 AF is made up of an A-staff, personal staff, 613th Air and Space Operations Center, known as the Maj Richard Bong AOC, the 613th AOC is one of the U. S. The AOC serves as the center of air operations during any campaign. Thirteenth AF relocated and officially established its headquarters at Andersen AFB, Guam, the command was moved from Guam to Hickam AFB in May 2005. It also includes a squadron of Lockheed F-22s, finally it serves as an important en-route location for transient aircraft. 36th Wing, Andersen AFB, Guam The 36th WG has a mission to support global projection. On 5 January 2007, Detachment 1,13 AF was activated at Yokota AB, the 13th Air Expeditionary Group, and formerly the 500th Air Expeditionary Group, is activated seasonally to support Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic. Thirteenth Air Force has never been stationed in the continental United States, it is one of the oldest, continuously active. It engaged in combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II, since World War II, it has provided air defense in the Far East, primarily the Philippines, until the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo forced the closure of Clark AB. Numerous Thirteenth Air Force organizations participated in Southeast Asia combat operations in the 1960s and 1970s, established as Thirteenth Air Force on 14 December 1942 Activated on 13 January 1943 U. S. Served in combat with Thirteenth AF until the end of the war, inactivated in the Philippines on 15 March 1946

37.
South Vietnam
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South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a state governing the southern half of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. It received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam, the term South Vietnam became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts. The Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on 26 October 1955, with Ngô Đình Diệm as its first president and its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and eighty-seven other nations. It had membership in several committees of the United Nations. After the Second World War, the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, in 1949, anti-communist Vietnamese politicians formed a rival government in Saigon led by former emperor Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại was deposed by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm in 1955, after Diệm was killed in a military coup led by general Dương Văn Minh in 1963, there was a series of short-lived military governments. General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu led the country from 1967 until 1975, the Vietnam War began in 1959 with an uprising by Viet Cong forces armed and controlled by Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Fighting reached a climax during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when there were over 1.5 million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500,000 U. S. soldiers in South Vietnam. Despite a peace treaty concluded in January 1973, fighting continued until the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies overran Saigon on 30 April 1975, the creation of this republic, during the Indochina War, allowed France to evade a promise to recognise Vietnam as independent. This pre-Vietnam government prepared for a unified Vietnamese state, but the countrys full reunification was delayed for a year because of the problems posed by Cochinchinas legal status, Nguyễn Văn Xuân 1949–55 State of Vietnam. Roughly 60% of Vietnamese territory was controlled by the communist Việt Minh. Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel in 1954, once highly lauded by America, he was ousted and assassinated in a U. S. -backed coup. In 1963–65, there were numerous coups and short-lived governments, several of which were headed by Dương Văn Minh or Nguyễn Khánh, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was the top leader in 1965–67. Surrendered to Communists when others abandoned their posts, 1975–76 Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. Huỳnh Tấn Phát Before World War II, the third of Vietnam was the concession of Cochinchina. Between Tonkin in the north and Cochinchina in the south was the protectorate of Annam, Cochinchina had been annexed by France in 1862 and even elected a deputy to the French National Assembly. It was more evolved, and French interests were stronger than in parts of Indochina. During World War II, Indochina was administered by Vichy France, japanese troops overthrew the French administration on 9 March 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại proclaimed Vietnam independent

38.
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
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It is estimated to have suffered 1,394,000 casualties during the Vietnam War. After the fall of Saigon to the invading North Vietnamese Army, the VNA fought in joint operations with the French Unions French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the communist Viet Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh. The VNA fought in a range of campaigns including but not limited to the Battle of Nà Sản, Operation Atlas. Benefiting from French assistance, the VNA quickly became a modern army modelled after the Expeditionary Corps and it included infantry, artillery, signals, armored cavalry, airborne, airforce, navy and a national military academy. After the 1954 Geneva agreements, French Indochina ceased to exist and by 1956 all French Union troops had withdrawn from Vietnam, Laos, in 1955, by the order of Prime Minister Diệm, the VNA crushed the armed forces of the Bình Xuyên. On October 26,1955, the military was reorganized by the administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm who then established the Army of the Republic of Vietnam on December 30,1955. The air force was known as the Vietnamese Air Force, early on, the focus of the army was the guerrilla fighters of the Vietnam National Liberation Front, formed to oppose the Diệm administration. The United States, under President John F. Kennedy sent advisors, in 1963 Ngô Đình Diệm was killed in a coup détat carried out by ARVN officers and encouraged by American officials such as Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. In the confusion that followed, General Dương Văn Minh took control, during these years, the United States began taking more control of the war against the NLF and the role of the ARVN became less and less significant. They were also plagued by continuing problems of corruption amongst the officer corps. Although the US was highly critical of the ARVN, it continued to be entirely US-armed and funded. S, there were also many circumstances in which Vietnamese families had members on both sides of the conflict. Slowly, ARVN began to expand from its role to become the primary ground defense against the NLF. From 1969 to 1971 there were about 22,000 ARVN combat deaths per year, starting in 1968, South Vietnam began calling up every available man for service in the ARVN, reaching a strength of one million soldiers by 1972. In 1970 they performed well in the Cambodian Incursion and were executing three times as many operations as they had during the American war period. However, the ARVN equipment continued to be of lower standards than their American and South Korean allies, however, the officer corps was still the biggest problem. Leaders were too often poorly trained, corrupt, lacking morale, however, forced to carry the burden left by the Americans, the South Vietnamese Army actually started to perform rather well, though with continued American air support. In 1972, General Võ Nguyên Giáp launched the Easter Offensive, the assault combined infantry wave assaults, artillery and the first massive use of armored forces by the PAVN. Although T-54 tanks proved vulnerable to LAW rockets, the ARVN took heavy losses, the PAVN and NLF forces took Quảng Trị Province and some areas along the Laos and Cambodian borders

39.
Viet Cong
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It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were attached to the Peoples Army of Vietnam, although the terminology distinguishes northerners from the southerners, communist forces were under a single command structure set up in 1958. North Vietnam established the National Liberation Front on December 20,1960, many of the Việt Cộngs core members were volunteer regroupees, southern Viet Minh who had resettled in the North after the Geneva Accord. Hanoi gave the military training and sent them back to the South along the Ho Chi Minh trail in the early 1960s. The NLF called for southern Vietnamese to overthrow the colonial regime of the American imperialists. The offensive riveted the attention of the media for weeks. Later communist offensives were conducted predominantly by the North Vietnamese, the organisation was dissolved in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were officially unified under a communist government. The term Việt cộng appeared in Saigon newspapers beginning in 1956 and it is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản, or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản. The earliest citation for Việt Cộng in English is from 1957, American soldiers referred to the Viet Cong as Victor Charlie or V-C. Victor and Charlie are both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet, Charlie referred to communist forces in general, both Việt Cộng and North Vietnamese. The official Vietnamese history gives the name as the Liberation Army of South Vietnam or the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam. Many writers shorten this to National Liberation Front, in 1969, the Viet Cong created the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, abbreviated PRG. Although the NLF was not officially abolished until 1977, the Viet Cong no longer used the name after PRG was created, members generally referred to the Viet Cong as the Front. Todays Vietnamese media most frequently refers to the group as the Peoples Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam, by the terms of the Geneva Accord, which ended the Indochina War, France and the Viet Minh agreed to a truce and to a separation of forces. The Viet Minh had become the government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam since the Vietnamese 1946 general election, military forces of non-communists regrouped in South Vietnam, which became a separate state. The political forces was not compulsory to regroup, elections on reunification were scheduled for July 1956. A divided Vietnam angered Vietnamese nationalists, but it made the country less of a threat to China, Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the past and Vietnam in the present do not recognise that Vietnam was divided into two countries. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai negotiated the terms of the ceasefire with France, about 90,000 Viet Minh were evacuated to the North while 5,000 to 10,000 cadre remained in the South, most of them with orders to refocus on political activity and agitation

40.
People's Army of Vietnam
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The Peoples Army of Vietnam, also known as the Vietnamese Peoples Army, is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The PAVN is a part of Vietnam Peoples Armed Forces and includes, Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Border Defence Force, however, Vietnam does not have a specific separate Ground Force or Army branch. The military flag of the PAVN is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, during the French Indochina War, the PAVN was often referred to as the Việt Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War, the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army and this allowed writers, the US military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, both groups ultimately worked under the command structure. According to Hanois official history, the Viet Cong was a branch of the VPA, in 2010 the PAVN undertook the role of leading the 1, 000th Anniversary Parade in Hanoi by performing their biggest parade in history. Under the guidelines of Hồ Chí Minh, Võ Nguyên Giáp was given the task of establishing the brigades, the first formation was made up of thirty one men and three women, armed with two revolvers, seventeen rifles, one light machine gun, and fourteen breech-loading flintlocks. The group was renamed the Vietnam Liberation Army in May 1945, in September, the army was again renamed the Vietnam National Defence Army. At this point, it had about 1,000 soldiers, in 1950, it officially became the Peoples Army of Vietnam. On 7 January 1947, its first regiment, the 102nd Capital Regiment, was created for operations around Hanoi. Over the next two years, the first division, the 308th Division, later known as the Pioneer Division formed by the 88th Tu Vu Regiment. By late 1950 the 308th Division had a full three infantry regiments, when it was supplemented by the 36th Regiment, at that time, the 308th Division was also backed by the 11th Battalion that later became the main force of the 312th Division. The first six divisions became known as the original PAVN Steel, in 1954 four of these divisions defeated the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, ending 83 years of French rule in Indochina. At about the time, Group 579 was created as its maritime counterpart to transport supplies into the South by sea. Most of the infiltrators were members of the 338th Division. Those PAVN formations were seen as extremely brave forces by the US forces and we had to change our plan and make it different from when we fought the Saigon regime, because we now had to fight two adversaries — the United States and South Vietnam. We understood that the U. S. Army was superior to our own logistically, in weapons, so strategically we did not hope to defeat the U. S. Army completely. Our intentions were to fight a time and cause heavy casualties to the United States, so the United States would see that the war was unwinnable

41.
Gulf of Tonkin incident
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The Gulf of Tonkin incident, also known as the USS Maddox incident, drew the U. S. more directly into the Vietnam War. It involved two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, the original U. S. Maddox fired three warning shots and the North Vietnamese boats then attacked with torpedoes and machine gun fire. Maddox expended over 280 3-inch and 5-inch shells in what was claimed to be a sea battle. One U. S. aircraft was damaged, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were damaged, and four North Vietnamese sailors were said to have been killed. Maddox was unscathed except for a bullet hole from a Vietnamese machine gun round. The resolution served as Johnsons legal justification for deploying U. S. conventional forces, in 1995, former Secretary of Defense McNamara met with former Vietnam Peoples Army General Võ Nguyên Giáp to ask what happened on August 4,1964 in the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Giáp claimed that the attack had been imaginary, the report stated, regarding the first incident on August 2, that at 1500G, Captain Herrick ordered Ogiers gun crews to open fire if the boats approached within ten thousand yards. At about 1505G, Maddox fired three rounds to warn off the communist boats and this initial action was never reported by the Johnson administration, which insisted that the Vietnamese boats fired first. It also forbade the political interference of other countries in the area, the creation of new governments without the stipulated elections, and foreign military presence. By 1961, President Ngo Dinh Diem faced significant discontent among some quarters of the southern population, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred during the first year of the Johnson administration. Shortly before his assassination, in November 1963, Kennedy had begun a limited recall of U. S. forces, Johnsons views were likewise complex, but he had supported military escalation as a means of challenging what was perceived to be the Soviet Unions expansionist policies. The Cold War policy of containment was to be applied to prevent the fall of Southeast Asia to communism under the precepts of the domino theory. After Kennedys assassination, Johnson ordered in more U. S. forces to support the Saigon government, in 1964 the program was transferred to the Defense Department and conducted by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group. For the maritime portion of the operation, a set of fast patrol boats had been purchased quietly from Norway. In 1963 three young Norwegian skippers traveled on a mission in South Vietnam and they were recruited for the job by the Norwegian intelligence officer Alf Martens Meyer. Martens Meyer, who was head of department at the intelligence staff. The three skippers did not know who Meyer really was when they agreed to a job that involved them in missions against North Vietnam. Four years later, Secretary McNamara admitted to Congress that the U. S. ships had in fact been cooperating in the South Vietnamese attacks against North Vietnam, Maddox, although aware of the operations, was not directly involved

42.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress

43.
Ho Chi Minh City
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Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named and still often known as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam by population. It was once known as Prey Nokor prior to annexation by the Vietnamese in the 17th century, under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam 1955–75. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh, the citys population is expected to grow to 13.9 million by 2025. Ho Chi Minh City has gone by different names during its history, reflecting settlement by different ethnic. In the 1690s, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn rulers of Huế to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the Mekong Delta and its surroundings. Control of the city and the passed to the Vietnamese. Immediately after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, a provisional government renamed the city after Hồ Chí Minh, even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn/Saigon remains in daily speech both domestically and internationally, especially among the Vietnamese diaspora. In particular, Sài Gòn is still used to refer to District 1. This name may refer to the many plants that the Khmer people had planted around Prey Nokor. It may also refer to the dense and tall forest that existed around the city. Other proposed etymologies draw parallels from Tai-Ngon, the Cantonese name of Cholon, which means embankment, and Vietnamese Sai Côn, a translation of the Khmer Prey Nokor. Prey means forest or jungle, and nokor is a Khmer word of Sanskrit origin meaning city or kingdom, the current official name, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, adopted in 1976 and abbreviated Tp. HCM, is translated as Ho Chi Minh City, abbreviated HCMC, the name commemorates Hồ Chí Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam. This name, though not his name, was one he favored throughout his later years. It combines a common Vietnamese surname with a name meaning enlightened will, in essence. Ho Chi Minh City began as a fishing village likely known as Prey Nokor, Forest City, or perhaps Preah Reach Nokor which. The area that the city now occupies was originally swampland, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese. In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh–Nguyễn civil war in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor and to set up a custom house there

44.
1954 Geneva Conference
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The part of the conference on the Korean question ended without adopting any declarations or proposals. On Indochina, the conference produced a set of known as the Geneva Accords. A Conference Final Declaration, issued by the British chairman of the conference, although presented as a consensus view, this document was not accepted by the delegates of either the State of Vietnam or the United States. In addition, three separate ceasefire accords, covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, were signed at the conference, the conference was held at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, commencing on April 26,1954. The first agenda item was the Korean question to be followed by Indochina. ”After the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945, nationalist and communist movements in Vietnam fought for independence, resulting in the First Indochina War in 1946. This colonial war between the French Unions Expeditionary Corps and Hồ Chí Minhs Việt Minh guerrillas turned into a Cold War crisis in January 1950, the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ started on March 13,1954, and continued during the Geneva conference. The course of the hung over the conference, as both sides sought a strategic victory that would strengthen their negotiating position. The Chinese delegation proposed an amendment to have a group of “neutral nations” supervise the elections, the U. S. supported the South Korean position, saying that the USSR wanted to turn North Korea into a puppet state. Most allies remained silent and at least one, Britain, thought that the U. S. -South Korean proposal would be deemed unreasonable, the South Korean representative proposed all-Korea elections, to be held according to South Korean constitutional procedures and still under UN-supervision. The Belgian and British delegations said that while they were not going to accept “the Soviet and Chinese proposals, that did not mean a rejection of the ideas they contained. ”In the end, however, the conference participants did not agree on any declaration. While the delegates began to assemble in Geneva from late April, the Viet Minh had achieved their decisive victory over the French Union forces at Dien Bien Phu the previous day. The Western allies did not have a position on what the Conference was to achieve in relation to Indochina. Anthony Eden, leading the British delegation, favored a negotiated settlement to the conflict and its leaders had previously accused the Democratic Truman administration of having lost China when the communists were successful in dominating the country. The Eisenhower administration had considered air strikes in support of the French at Dien Bien Phu, Eisenhower was wary of becoming drawn into another Korea that would be deeply unpopular with the American public. U. S. domestic policy considerations strongly influenced the U. S. position at Geneva, at the time of the Geneva conference, the U. S. did not recognize the Peoples Republic of China. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, a strong anti-Communist, forbade any contact with the Chinese delegation, refusing to shake hands with Zhou Enlai, the State of Vietnam refused to attend the negotiations until Bidault wrote to Bao Dai assuring him that any agreement would not partition Vietnam. Pham Van Dong first proposed a partition of Vietnam on May 25. It appears that the DRV leadership thought the balance of forces was uncomfortably close and were worried about morale problems among their troops, in addition, there was a widespread perception that the Diem government would collapse, leaving the Viet Minh free to take control of the area

45.
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
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Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. It is located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam, the United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War, stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there. Following the Fall of Saigon, it was taken over as a Vietnam Peoples Air Force facility, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, has been a major Vietnamese civil airport since the 1920s. Flights to and from France, as well as within Southeast Asia were available prior to World War II, during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army used Tan Son Nhat as a transport base. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the French Air Force flew a contingent of 150 troops into Tan Son Nhat, after World War II, Tân Sơn Nhất served domestic as well as international flights from Saigon. In 1953, Tan Son Nhut started being used as a air base for the fledgling Vietnamese Armée de lAir. But even before that time, French and Vietnamese military aircraft were in evidence at Tan Son Nhut, on 1 July 1955, the VNAF was established as a separate and distinct military unit. The VNAF consisted of 58 aircraft and about 1,300 personnel, the French had made no effort to expand the SVNAF to a force able to defend South Vietnam. Aircraft consisted primarily of C-47 Skytrains, and Grumman F8F Bearcats, in May 1956, by agreement with the South Vietnamese government, the United States Air Force assumed some training and administrative roles of the VNAF. Teams from Clark Air Force Base began in 1957 to organize the VNAF into a model of the USAF when the French training contracts expired, the build-up of the VNAF caused air units to become very visible on the base. On 4 January 1964, the VNAF 3311th Wing was organized at Tan Son Nhut, by the mid-1960s, Tan Son Nhut Airport was reported as the busiest airport in the world, with a mix of air traffic that approached chaotic proportions. As the headquarters for the South Vietnamese Air Force, Tan Son Nhut was primarily a command base, at Tan Son Nhut, the VNAFs system of command and control was developed over the years with assistance from the USAF. The system handled the flow of aircraft from take-off to target area and this was known as the Tactical Air Control System, and it assured positive control of all areas where significant combat operations were performed. Without this system, it would not have been possible for the VNAF to deploy its forces effectively where needed, the TACS was in close proximity to the headquarters of the VNAF and USAF forces in South Vietnam, and commanders of both Air Forces utilized its facilities. Subordinate to TACS was the Direct Air Support Centers assigned to each of corps areas, dASCs were responsible for the deployment of aircraft located within their sector in support of ground operations. Operating under each DASC were numerous Tactical Air Control Party, manned by one or more VNAF/USAF personnel posted with the South Vietnamese Army ground forces. A communications network inked these three levels of command and control, giving the TACS overall control of the South Vietnamese air situation at all times, additional information was provided by a radar network that covered all of South Vietnam and beyond, monitoring all strike aircraft. Another function of Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a South Vietnamese Air Force recruiting center, the plotters invited loyalist officers to a routine lunch meeting at JGS and captured them in the afternoon of November 1,1963

46.
Da Nang Air Base
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Da Nang Air Base was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. It is located in the city of Danang in southern Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, it was a major base with United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps units stationed there. Air Vietnam also used the facility from 1951 to 1975 for civilian domestic, on 22 September 1940 the Vichy Government signed an agreement with Japan allowing the Japanese to station troops in Tonkin and use three airfields there. Tourane Airfield was used by the French Air Force during the French Indochina War, in 1953/54 the French laid a NATO-standard 7, 800-foot asphalt runway at Tourane. In January 1954 the USAF delivered a further 16 B-26s and 3 RB-26s to Tourane and in February assigned USAF maintenance, the USAF delivered 18 C-47s to Tourane on April 9 to replace aircraft losses. Later in April VMA-324 delivered 25 F4U/G Corsairs to the French Air Force at Tourane, following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and in anticipation of the Indochina peace treaty, on 23 May the USAF C-119 detachment at Cat Bi Air Base moved to Tourane. On 6 September the last of the B-26s and C-119s on loan to the French departed from Tourane. By the end of the Indochina War, the French had established a small Republic of Vietnam Air Force consisting of 2 squadrons of Morane-Saulnier MS.500 and one of Morane-Saulnier MS.315. In January 1955 MAAG Vietnam decided that the VNAF would comprise one fighter, under the Mutual Defence Assistance Program, the US delivered 28 F8Fs,35 C-47s and 60 L-19s to the VNAF to equip the planned expansion. On 19 September 1956 the French turned over Tourane Airfield to the VNAF, in November 1955 the VNAF 1st Liaison Squadron moved to Da Nang AB from Huế. In 1960 the Army of the Republic of Vietnam established a training facility at Da Nang Air Base. In October 1962 the 2nd Helicopter Squadron was activated at the base, in mid-1962 the VNAF 2nd Fighter Squadron equipped with T-28s became operational and began detaching 6 aircraft to Da Nang AB. In February 1964 the 516th Fighter Squadron equipped with 15 A-1 Skyraiders moved to Da Nang AB from Nha Trang Air Base, on 15 March 1964 the VNAF established a Tactical Wing Headquarters at the base. In May the 217th Helicopter Squadron was established at the base, on 8 February 1965 VNAF commander Nguyễn Cao Kỳ led VNAF A-1s from the base on a retaliatory raid against North Vietnamese targets. On 2 March 196520 A-1s from the base participated in the first attacks of Operation Rolling Thunder, on 14 March the VNAF led by General Kỳ participated in attacks on barracks on Hòn Gió island. In August 19654 USAF B-57Bs operating from the base were transferred to the VNAF becoming their first jet aircraft. In 1970 the VNAF units at Da Nang AB were reorganized as the First Air Division with responsibility for Military Region I, also during that year the VNAF began building family housing at the base for its personnel. In January 1962 the USAF 5th Tactical Control Group was deployed to Da Nang AB to provide air support operations in I Corps, by March 2 C-123s were stationed at the base under Project Mule Train

47.
North Vietnam
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North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was a state in Southeast Asia which existed from 1945 to 1976. Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France on 2 September 1945, France reasserted its colonial dominance and a war ensued between France and the Viet Minh, led by Ho. The Viet Minh was a coalition of nationalist groups, mostly led by communists, in February 1951, the communists announced the creation of the Lao Động Party, gradually marginalizing non-communists in the Viet Minh. Between 1946 and 1954, the Viet Minh captured and controlled most of the areas of Vietnam. In 1954, after the French were defeated, the negotiation of the Geneva Accords ended the war between France and the Viet Minh and granted Vietnam independence. The Geneva Accords divided the country provisionally into northern and southern zones, the northern zone was commonly called North Vietnam and the southern zone South Vietnam, or, formally, the Republic of Vietnam. Supervision of the implementation of the Geneva Accords was the responsibility of an International Commission consisting of India, Canada, and Poland. In July 1955, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem and he said that South Vietnam had not signed the Geneva accords and was not bound by it. With the failure to reunify Vietnam by elections, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam attempted to unify the country by force in the Vietnam War, North Vietnam also supported indigenous communist rebels in Cambodia and Laos against their respective U. S, -backed governments. The war ended when Democratic Republic of Vietnam forces and the Viet Cong defeated the Republic of Vietnam, Viet Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh became head of the government. U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt had spoken against French rule in Indochina, the Hanoi government of Ho Chi Minh claimed dominion over all of Vietnam, but during this time South Vietnam was in profound political disorder. The successive collapse of French, then Japanese power, followed by the dissension among the factions in Saigon had been accompanied by widespread violence in the countryside. On September 12,1945, the first British troops arrived in Saigon, on September 23,28 days after the people of Saigon seized political power, French troops occupied the police stations, the post office, and other public buildings. In June 1946, Chinese Nationalist troops evacuated Hanoi, and on the 15th of June, after the departure of the British in 1946, the French controlled a part of Cochinchina, South Central Coast, Central Highlands since the end Southern Resistance War. In January 1946, the Viet Minh held an election to establish a National Assembly, when France declared Cochinchina, the southern third of Vietnam, a separate state as the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina in June 1946, Vietnamese nationalists reacted with fury. In November, the National Assembly adopted the first Constitution of the Republic, the French reoccupied Hanoi and the First Indochina War followed. Following the Chinese Communist Revolution, Chinese communist forces arrived on the border in 1949, Chinese aid revived the fortunes of the Viet Minh and transformed it from a guerrilla militia into a standing army. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 transformed what had been a struggle into a Cold War battleground

48.
Phan Rang Air Base
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Phan Rang Air Base is a Vietnam Peoples Air Force military airfield in Vietnam. It is located 5.2 miles north-northwest of Phan Rang – Tháp Chàm in Ninh Thuận Province, initially built by the Imperial Japanese Army about 1942, the airfield was also used by the French Air Force during the First Indochina War then abandoned in 1954. The United States rebuilt the airfield in 1965 and it was used by the South Vietnamese Air Force and it was seized by the Vietnam Peoples Army in April 1975 and has been in use by the Vietnam Peoples Air Force ever since. Phan Rang Air Base is located along the coast, with the located about 3 miles inland. The facility is located near the base of rugged mountains to the west. Near the entrance to the base are ruins of a Cham temple, after April 1975, the VPAF operated various captured VNAF Cessna A-37a and Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters at the base until about 1998. They were replaced by Russian Sukhoi Su-30MK2Vs, a variant of the Su-30MK2 tailored to VPAF requirements, additionally,12 earlier models Sukhoi Su-27SK and 3 Su-27UBK were in the VPAF service at Phan Rang. It is still a base by the VPAF. The airfield at Phan Rang was used by the Japanese during World War II, in the late 1940s and early 1950s the French Air Force used the same 3, 500-foot runway, and abandoned the facility when French control over Indochina ended in 1954. To accommodate the war in South Vietnam in 1965, the United States moved engineering. Phan Rang Air Base was quickly expanded in 1965 to accommodate both United States and VNAF fighter and helicopter units and they were constructed with asphalt and AM-2 pierced steel aprons. The APO for Phan Rang Air Base was APO San Francisco,96321 The USAF forces stationed there were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces Seventh Air Force. In addition, the United States Navy, and United States Marine Corps had aviation, the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing was the first permanent USAF organization to be stationed at Phan Rang Air Base, arriving on 20 March 1966 from Holloman Air Force Base New Mexico. The wing was composed of a mixture of F-100 Super Sabre and F-4C Phantom II squadrons, Phan Rang Air Base from March to October 10,1966 only had the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron. The MiG patrols and attacks in North Vietnam were taken over by the F-4s and F-105s based in Thailand, in addition, the F-105 was built to take the extreme structural loads of low-level, high-speed flight, whereas the F-100 was not. Consequently, the F-100D fighter bombers generally operated only in South Vietnam where the F-100 turned out to be an effective ground support aircraft. This realignment was effective on 1 October 1966, the move made the 366th an entirely F-4 Wing at Da Nang, leaving Phan Rang to be an F-100 base. The 35th Tactical Fighter Wing took over as the host unit at Phan Rang on October 10,1966, the move from Da Nang made the 35th TFW an entirely F-100 wing

49.
35th Fighter Wing
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The 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The wing is part of Pacific Air Forces s Fifth Air Force, the wing was first activated in August 1948 at Johnson Air Base, Japan when PACAF implemented the wing base organization. It participated in the Korean War and later served in the air defense of Japan until inactivating in 1957, in 1966, the wing was again activated and served in combat in the Vietnam War until inactivating in 1972 with the withdrawal of US forces from Southeast Asia. It was soon reactivated at George Air Force Base, California and it was activated the following year in Iceland as an air defense unit. With the drawdown of US forces in Iceland, it was inactivated the following year, the mission of the 35th Wing is to project power throughout the Pacific theater and execute worldwide deployments. The 35th Fighter Wing is a combat-ready F-16 wing composed of 4 groups,2 fighter squadrons,27 support squadrons and agencies, host unit for 13, 500-manned base supporting 35 associate units representing all four US military services and the Japan Air Self Defense Force. The Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations, the Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance. The Maintenance Group provides aircraft and mission support equipment maintenance, while the Medical Group provides medical and dental care, redesignated 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in January 1950 and two squadrons were equipped with Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. In July 1950, the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group commenced combat from Ashiya Air Base in southwestern Japan and it quickly converted from F-80Cs back to the rugged and longer-range North American F-51D Mustangs it had given up only a short time before. Group headquarters and the 40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved to Pohang Air Base on South Koreas south eastern coast in mid-July, the precarious ground situation in Korea forced the 35th Group to return to Tsuiki Air Base, Japan on 13 August, where it remained until early October. The two squadrons of the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group were attached to the wartime 6131st Tactical Support Wing from 1 August, the Korean War squadrons of the 35th FIG were the 39th, 40th and 339th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons. From 6 September, the group supported United Nations ground forces moving north of the 38th parallel, when Communist Chinese Forces surrounded the 1st U. S. Marine Division at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, the F-51 Mustang-equipped squadrons provided close air support to the Marines. Relocating to Pusan East Air Base in early December 1950, the 35th Group continued supporting UN ground forces, eventually staging out of Suwon Air Base in March 1951 and Seoul Air Base in April. After the 35ths squadrons transferred back to Johnson in 1951, the group was reunited with the wing, the wing also added aerial reconnaissance to its air defense mission. Aircraft flown included the RC-45, RF-51, North American F-86F Sabre, the group was returned to operational status on 15 July 1954, and from 14 August to 30 September 1954 was detached from the wing, moving to Yokota Air Base. On 14 March 1966, the wing was redesignated the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, two weeks later, it was organized at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, to replace the 6252nd Tactical Fighter Wing. While at Da Nang Air Base, the wing had five flying squadrons assigned or attached to it, with the transfer, the 35th became the parent wing at Phan Rang Air Base. The attached No.2 Squadron RAAF provided day and night bombing, photo strike assessment, missions included air support of ground forces, interdiction, visual and armed reconnaissance, strike assessment photography, escort, close and direct air support, and rapid reaction alert

The 405th Air Expeditionary Group (405 AEG) was a provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat …

Emblem of the 405th Air Expeditionary Group

A B-52 being refueled over the Indian Ocean in June 1998, as seen from the refueling operator on a KC-135. The KC-135 crew is from the 931st Air Refueling Group at McConnell Air Force Base, KS, and was deployed to the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing to hit Iraq-associated targets during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Republic F-105B AF Serial No. 57-5829. The sign on the hangar proudly proclaiming McGuire AFB as the "Home of the Air Guard Thunderchiefs".

McDonnell F-4D-28-MC Phantom AF Serial No. 65-0696 of the 141st TFS with a Norwegian Air Force Northrup F-5E Freedom Fighter while deployed to NATO on 1 September 1982. After its retirement in 1985, this aircraft was briefly in private hands as civil registration N402AV, then preserved at the Heritage Aviation Airpark, Palmdale, California.

USAF Douglas A-26C/B-26B-45-DT Invader Serial 44-35663 on the flightine of Bien Hoa Air Base, 1963. After service in Vietnam, this aircraft was eventually sold to the Nationalist Chinese, then scrapped at Clark Air Base in late 1964.

Martin B-57B bombers at Bien Hoa AB South Vietnam August 1964. Photo shows the aircraft shortly after their arrival, in natural aluminum and unpainted. Aircraft also show their In-squadron identification letters

VNAF C-47s of the 413th Transportation Squadron on the crowded flightline at Tan Son Nhut along with an RAFDe Havilland Dove and several other aircraft.

VNAF Women's Armed Forces Corps (WAFC) personnel with USAF Captain Mary A. Marsh, June 1968. Captain Marsh would eventually retire as a USAF Brigadier General on 1 May 1986. General Marsh was the first Air Force woman assigned as an adviser to the Vietnamese air force.

North American F-100D-25-NA Super Sabre 55-3658 of the 352d Tactical Fighter Squadron dropping a napalm bomb near Biên Hòa, South Vietnam, 1967.

Royal Australian Air Force MK-20 Canberra Bomber after return from Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, 1971

Martin B-57B bombers at Phan Rang AB South Vietnam 1968. 8th Bombardment Squadron Martin B-57B-MA 53-3898 converted to B-57G in 1969. Returned to the United States and retired to MASDC as BM0092 February 7, 1974. 13th Bomb Squadron Martin B-57B-MA 52-1567 converted to RB-57B. Loaned to South Vietnam AF but remained under US control, 1965. Program cancelled and returned to USAF 20 Apr 1967. W/o when hit by ground fire but was able to fly back to Phan Rang 15 March 1969. Suffered dual flameout near Pleiku, South Vietnam. Both crew ejected and were rescued by USAF HH-43 helicopter.

Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility, the home of Wing 21 of the RTAF 2nd Air …

Colonel Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. in front of his McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phantom (433d TFS) at Ubon. He flew 78 combat missions into North Vietnam, many in the Hanoi/Haiphong area, and led a flight into the "Bolo" MiG sweep in which seven Vietnamese People's Air ForceMiG-21s were destroyed, the highest total kill of any mission during the Vietnam War.

Colonel Robin Olds with his F-4C Phantom, Scat XXVII (McDonnell F-4C-24-MC Phantom II, AF Ser. No. 64-0829). He was the commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Air Base, Thailand, and was credited with shooting down four enemy MiG aircraft in aerial combat over North Vietnam. "Scat XXVII" is now in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

F-104Cs of the 476th TFS head into the Vietnam War zone from Ubon RTAFB, 1966. Note the M-117 750-pound bombs under their wings.

The Boeing KB-29 was a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress for air refueling needs by the USAF. Two primary versions …

KB-29M refueling KB-29MR

Experimental Boeing YKB-29T Superfortress,(Boeing B-29-90-BW Superfortress) 45-21734, assigned to the 421st Air Refueling Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, 1954 Returned to United States and retired to AMARC, Feb 1955.

The Kansas Air National Guard (KS ANG) is the air force militia of the State of Kansas, United States of America. It …

Image: 190th ARW KC 135 over Capitol

Kansas Air National Guard F-51D 44-13646, at Wichita Municipal Airport. Note the fuselage designation "NG", indicating the photo was taken prior to the formation of the Air National Guard in September 1947.

The New Jersey Air National Guard (NJ ANG) is the air force militia of the State of New Jersey, United States of …

119th Fighter Squadron - General Dynamics F-16C Block 25B Fighting Falcon 83-1142, The 119th is the oldest unit in the New Jersey Air National Guard, having over 90 years of service to the state and nation

"Charles de Gaulle and Ho Chi Minh are hanged" in effigy by students demonstrating in Saigon, July 1964, on the 10th anniversary of the Geneva Accords.

Geneva Conference, 21 July 1954. Last plenary session on Indochina in the Palais des Nations. Second left Vyacheslav Molotov, 2 unidentified Russians, Anthony Eden, Sir Harold Caccie and W.D. Allen. In the foreground, the North Vietnamese delegation.